Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper
by Arganaut
Summary: AU: Kenshin Himura's life was changed on one fateful night... now, will he get another shot at being happy? KeixNaru, Kenx? ATTENTION: READ LATEST NOTE!
1. His First Day In Hinata Sou

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

This is a reconstructed version of Love Hina: My New Weird Life, and it will be told mostly in Kenshin's POV.

Please tell me what you think.

Chapter 1: His First Day in Hinata Sou

9 Years Before Main Story

??? POV

Orphanage

I was running through the halls of the orphanage as fast as my little legs could carry me. I heard the screams and pleads of not only the people who took care of me, but those of my friends, and my fellow orphans. The sreams were short-lived as soon they were replaced by the sound of gurgling, almost sounding like someone trying to talk with water in their mouth, and someting hitting the ground. Though I wasn't sure what these sounds meant, I could feel something telling me to keep running, and to not stop.

My name is Shinto... and I am 6 years old...

During my short life... I have been through things people only experience on weird shows that my caretakers would watch on the TV. My first memory was of my mother and father. My father was a kind man, the red, spikey hair that I got from him along with light blue eyes being the only things I remember of him. My mother had long light brown hair and the violet eyes I gained from her really the only things I remember about her as well. We were a well off family, I don't remember ever starving or being without fresh clothes. From what I remember I was happy for a time.

But then... I remember my parents fighting. My mother calling my father lazy and my father calling her lots of words back. There was one word that made my mother slap my father... I think it began with a c but I don't really remember much else. They kept on fighting for a long time, until they started talking about something called a 'divorce'. I really don't understand it, but I know it had something to do with me not being able to be with one of them. But before this 'divorce' thing could happen... something happened to them.

One day they wouldn't get up out of bed. I ran in and shook them a few times but they wouldn't get up. I shook them more and more... and I still couldn't wake them up. I finally grabbed my mother's shoulders, which were very cold for some reason, and turned her over. When I saw her face... i-it was so pale... and her lips were... and her eyes... I knew something was wrong. I called the doctor people and they came over fast. The day after I found myself in this weird place called an orphanage. There were lots of kids like me who lost their mothers and fathers, so I made lots of friends.

My caretakers took really good care of me, and even took me to school after I lived in the orphanage for a while. Like I said I made lots of friends, on days when we wouldn't go to school we would just play at the orphanage. Everything was going really well for me for a year. Though I wasn't ever 'adopted', or whatever they called it, I was happy with my caretakers and friends. I thought that these were going to be happy days from now on.

... Or so I thought...

Today, these strange men with big knives on their hips walked into the orphanage. There was one of them with a straw hat thing on there head so I couldn't really see him that well. I saw our caretakers look at them, looking very scared... but what was so scarey about them... I was going to find out soon. One of the orphans ran up to the man with the straw hat and stood right in front of him with a smile on his face. The man looked down to see him...

"Hey mister, are you here to adopt one of us?" The ophan asked as I could see the man smirk under his hat. In the next instant I saw him draw his knife... and then nothing happened, he just put it back in. The orphan who ran up to him turned around, looking even more scared than the caretakers. And then... he spat up this red stuff on the ground... and his head fell off. The caretakers screamed and then the men started cutting my everyone. One of the caretakers yelled for me to run before one man stuck his big knife in her back...

And here I am now...

I ran into the kitchen and slammed the doors shut. I looked around and saw a knife on the ground. I picked it up and then ran under a table with a cloth covering on it. I sat there for a few minutes shaking slightly as I held the knife close to me. I shivered for a few minutes before I heard the door open and I stopped. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched a pair of feet walk over to the table. I trembled as a hand grabbed the cloth and a head came down with it, the man had a big knife in his left hand with red stuff on it...

"Hello kid... whach ya' got there?" The strange man asked me as he began reaching for me. I panicked and forced the knife foward, the man seeing this move thrust his big knife foward too... It was a few moments before I opened my eyes, and I didn't like the sight I was treated to. The knife I held had gone through his forehead, he was still and red stuff flowed out of where the knife had gone in. I soon felt something warm going down my left cheek. I looked over to see his big knife going slightly through and across my left cheek...

I panicked and pulled away from the big knife in a hurry. I felt my left cheek, and it hurt to touch it, but I could feel the cut. I ran across my cheek in a diagonal fashion, going from down to up. I held my cheek as blodd kept on coming out of it. Then I heard footsteps coming from down the hall. I got out from under the table and began running down a side door, my cheek bleeding all the way. I kept on running, and running, and running until I reached the payroom. There was red stuff, and the still bodies of my caretakers and friends at the other door... I couldn't even look. I ran to a corner of the room and sat there, holding my knees as I heard more footsteps coming.

I gasped as the door opened and several men, including the one that had the straw hat, walked into the room. The man with the hat walked over to me and lifted me off the ground by my shirt. "Hello there child..." The man said in a low tone as he brought out a small knife. "You aren't afraid..." He said slowly as he brought the knife up to my left cheek. "Are ya?" He asked as he put another diagonal cut on my left cheek, combining with the other one creating an 'X', and then licked the blood off of his knife. I looked the man in his eyes, and I froze as I saw one thing...

Madness, unimaginable madness...

Suddenly there were sounds at the other door. They busted open revealing several police officers, one in front had a big knife on his hip, the others had their guns pointed at the other men while the one with his own knife pulled it out and pointed to the man holding me.

"Enishi Yukishiro, FREEZE! You are under arrest!" The man, Enishi, holding me by the collar of my shirt simply smirked. He threw me to the side and ran for a window at the opposite side of the room. He ran so fast... but the police man... he ran so much faster... I thought he was going to catch him for sure... but then Enishi threw his hat off, and spikes fell out of them onto the floor. The police officer stopped before stepping onto them, and Enishi jumped out of the window. The officer looked at the window and sighed, he put his knife back into the wooden thing at his side. The man walked over to me and bent down.

"Hey kid, you okay? The name's Hiko Seijuro, yours?" He asked as I stared at him. Then I did what every six year old would do in my situation...

I fainted...

??? POV

A Bullet Train

I began stirring as the train I was on kept on moving. I slowly opened my eyes in order to get them used to the sunlight. I had been on this train all night, waiting for it to reach Hinata City, my current destination. I quickly checked my person, to check to see if anyone had stolen anything of mine while I was asleep. I had my sword, my pouch with money earned from the last city I was in, travel was costly so I needed money, so every few cities I would get a job to help me with money. And that was basically all I ever really carried on my person.

My name is Kenshin Himura...

After that event at the orphanage the police officer I had come to know as Hiko Seijuro XXVII had taken me out of there and to his house. The man who led the Yakuza thugs in the 'robbery' as it was called... more like slaughter... at the orphange had gotten away, and so the courts saw fit to put me into Hiko's care, should that man ever come back. Ever since then Hiko had served as my guardian for a time, and then as my step-father. He adopted me after a year of taking care of me...

He then began teaching me the sword style 'Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu' (Supersonic Sword Technique), a sword style that Hiko had been taught by his master, and his master, and his master, and so on. After he began teaching me he changed my name to Kenshin Himura, he said that 'Shinto' was not a name fit for a swordsman. After teaching me for all of these years he had taught me all that he had to teach and had given me the name Hiko Seijuro XXVIII. But I prefer my second name better.

But... after the years of teaching me and taking care of me, Hiko had become threatened by Yakuza thugs, and his place had been announced improper for me to live. So sadly I departed from Hikp with simply some money and a sword. I was told to go to a certain house, but instead I chose a different life. I am now a rurouni, and the reason for my travels are simple...

To find a successor to my style...

And to find the man who...

No! I must not think of that now. The train began coming to a slow stop as a man walked up to me. "Well sir this is your stop." A man said in Japanese beside of me.

"**Oh thank you sir.**" I said as the man gained a confused look.

"What sir?" The man said again, very confused.

"**I said...**" As I realized that I was speaking in English, I had learned it over my travels with tourists. "Sorry sir, you see I learned English during my travels and I just simply prefer speaking it. Sorry for the trouble, that I am." I said while smiling at the sir. I was glad Hiko had also home schooled me during my time living, there were many instances in which I would have looked very, VERY, stupid had I not learned from him.

"Oh absolutely no problem sir, anyway this is your stop." The man said with a smile.

"Thank you." I said as another thought came to my mind. "Hey are there any hotels nearby?" I asked the man behind me.

"Well there was one hotel... it isn't far just go down the street, take a left at the second turn and you should get there... but I should tell you that..." The man said as I ran off the train.

"Thank you!" I said as I got out of earshot of him.

General POV

"Well I tried to warn the poor kid... (Sigh) well there goes another one." The man said as new passengers boarded the train, many of them whispering words along the line of 'dead kid walking'.

The Stairs to the Hotel

I reached the stair to the hotel that the man on the train told me about as I walked up them. As I walked up the stairs I saw that there was an old Tea House on the way up to the top. I stood there considering possibly getting some tea, or maybe some Sake... but I decided against it so I continued my way up to the top of the stairs. I got to the top of the stairs and looked upon one of the grandest buildings I have ever laid eyes upon. It looked like a ancient Japanese palace almost. I made my way to the front door, slid them open, and then walked in.

As I entered I looked around to find a place where I could put my shoes. I found that place and slipped off my sandals and then walked further into the area. "Hello, is there anyone here?" I shouted as I stood in there. After a few minutes of noone answering I laid my bags down, sat down, and then got into a lotus position. I wouldn't dare walk into this place without the person, or persons, in charge knowing, after all that would be rude... at least according to Hiko... he still berates me for that time I walked in on him while he was in that drunken stupor...

I sat there for a few minutes before... "Hello? Anyone.. oh hello who are you? Do you work here at the inn?" I heard a voice say behind me as I stood up. I turned my head to see the stranger behind me. He was a few inches taller than me, but had really no muscle on him to speak of. He had short brown hair that was rather flat compared to mine, and wore big, square glasses. He was in a white button-up shirt with a pair of blue jeans on and tennis shoes. He also sported what appeared to be a man-purse of some kind... I could tell the man was not of the malicious kind, his eyes couldn't lie.

I stood and faced him completely as I smiled. "Hello there sir, my name is Kenshin Himura. What is yours?" I said in a happy tone as I held out my hand.

"Oh, my name's Keitaro, Keitaro Urashima." Keitaro said as he extended his hand and took mine.

"Nice to meet you." I said as I shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too, I guess." He said as he released my hand. "Are you so happy all of the time?" He said in a slightly amused tone.

"Oh not all of the time sir, sometimes I am quite serious. But most of the time, yes I am very happy, that I am." I said as I scratched the back of my head.

'That I am?' Keitaro thought to himself as he questioned my vocabulary.

Keitaro noticed my sword, and immediately became interested. "Oh, are you a swordsman.. or samurai?!" He said sounding excited.

"Well sort of, I guess you could call me a rurouni." I said as I chuckled.

"Cool." He said as he looked over my attire. "So, do you work here or not?" Keitaro said sounding curious.

"Well no to be honest, I was just looking for a place to stay for the night." I said truthfully to the guy, afterall what reason would I have for lieing to this kind man.

"Oh, pretty cool, anyway I was just coming here because my parents kicked me out of the house, and my grandmother lives here so I figured I could just live here." Keitaro said as I shook my head.

"(Sigh) Why would someone, especially a person's parents, kick them out of the house." I said in a lower tone of voice.

"Well you see I've been trying to get into Tokyo University, but I've failed the entrance exam two times in a row. So my parents kicked me out, saying that I was just an extra cost for them..." Keitaro said as I got a shocked look.

"How terrible! Well Keitaro-san, I know that if you keep on working hard that you will be able to get into Tokyo U." I said while Keitaro got a suprised look on his own face.

"Thank... thank you Kenshin-san, I never had anyone who believed I could get into Tokyo U before, thank you." Keitaro said as he bowed.

"Not a problem Keitaro-san, now then do you know where we can find the owner of this hotel, I would like to be able to check in." I said as I looked around.

"Oh yeah sure, just follow me, I think I know where my grandma's room is... I think." Keitaro said with an uncertain tone in his voice.

"You think, Keitaro-san?" I asked.

"Well I haven't been here for so long so my memory is kinda fuzzy." Keitaro said as he led me to the stairs.

"Oh I know how that feels Keitaro-san." I said as I followed him up the stairs. We kept on walking until we reached room 205 and Keitaro stopped.

"I'm pretty sure this is it." Keitaro said as he walked into the room.

I nodded and followed Keitaro into the room. I looked around and I almost immediately thought. 'This sure doesn't look like a room that would belong to an old grandmother.' Several Sake bottles littered the floor around the room, as well as old clothes and the like. It looked more like a drunk's, or perhaps a college student's room.. Keitaro looked disgusted as he began picking trash up off the floor and putting it in the trash can.

"What are you doing Keitaro-san, we don't need to do this, afterall this doesn't look like an old woman's room." I said as Keitaro kept on picking up trash.

"Well, I know that, afterall grandma wasn't an alchoholic, but I just don't think that someone's room should be forced to look like this." Keitaro said as he kept on cleaning the room.

'Just as I thought, a man with no malice in his soul.' I thought as I began to help Keitaro pick up the loose trash around the room. As we finished Keitaro gave out a sigh and wipped his forehead.

"There, now doesn't it look like it's good as new?" Keitaro said proudly.

"Well I have to admit it is much cleaner than before we came, that it is." I said as I through the last of the trash into the can. I walked around before I felt a board go loose underneath my feet I pulled it out and saw a secret stash of Sake underneath. "Oh wow Keitaro look here." I said as I pulled out a few bottles of Sake.

"Hey wait, aren't you a little young to drink?" Keitaro asked as he looked at the Sake.

"Meh, I've had alchohol before." I said as I remembered drinking with Hiko on some nights when we were both, just well bored to death... somehow he was never arrested... maybe it had something to do with the Christmas Party, afterall everyone at the office always blushed when he mentioned it.

"Really, well... okay... I guess grandma would like a drink too." Keitaro said said as I put the bottles of Sake into a part of my sash that was not occupied.

But then all of a sudden I sensed something coming down the hall, it was someone, possibly the owner of the room.

'Someone is coming down the hall... we may wanna get out of here.' I thought as I grabbed Keitaro's arm.

"Keitaro-san, I think we should be getting to your grandmother's room." I said with a urgency in my voice.

"What's the hurry?" Keitaro asked as he stood up.

"Well I would like to check into this hotel so I can get my room." I said as I began pulling him out the room.

"Oh good point." He said as we exited the room, ran down the hallway, and into the right room as I sensed the Ki signature walk into the room we were in.

General POV

Kitsune walked into her now clean room, and gained a confused look on her face. "Didn't my room look like it had been hit by a typhoon about a half-hour ago?" Kitsune said as she walked over to the loose board. She lifted them up and saw her Sake was gone. "And whoever cleaned it up has taken my Sake stash... hmmmm must've been Haruka." Kitsune said as she tore off a section of the wall, revealing another Sake stash. "Well at least she didn't find this one!" Kitsune said as she laughed and began drinking large quanities.

Kenshin POV

As we entered the manager's room I saw that it was completely empty, not a soul in sight. "Well I guess she isn't here Keitaro-san." I said as I sat down.

"Maybe if we wait for her she'll show up." Keitaro said as he sat down right beside me.

I began popping the tops off of the Sake, I needed something to pass the time while Keitaro and I would wait for his grandmother. "Keitaro-san, want some." I said as I offered a bottle to him.

"Oh, well I guess, sure thanks." He said as we both took our first drink. "Wow this stuff isn't bad." He said as he took another drink.

"This is some pretty high quality Sake, the person who lived in that room must be pretty rich." I said, taking another drink of the tasty, yet expensive Sake.

After a while, we had gone through all three bottles of Sake, I had to thank Hiko for all of the years of allowing me to drink Sake. It had made my body very resistant to Sake. As Keitaro began bumbling around the room I took a quick smell of myself, and I had to admit, I reeked.

"Say Keitaro." I said getting Keitaro's attention. "Did your grandmother have any baths around this place, I've been traveling for a while without being able to take a good bath so..." I began saying when Keitaro cut me off.

"Shhhay no more." He said slurring his words, apparently his body wasn't very tolerant of alchohol. "My granny hassshh the bessshht bath housshhe in the world, follow me." He said as he stood up and began stummbling out he door.

"Okay then, I guess I'll leave our stuff here." I said as I walked out, leaving our bags behind... but I brought my sword with me, afterall Hiko taught me that in an unfamiliar place, a swordsman should never go walking around without his sword.

So we walked down the stairs, I didn't exactly keep a close look on ki signatures, afterall it isn't like someone woukld hurt us if we were here (Yeah keep dreaming Kenshin), but we eventually made it down the halls and now we were at a pair of sliding doors, and after Keitaro stummbled with the door for a little while we entered. We took off our clothes in the little 'locker room' type place before the springs, put a towel around ourselves, and walked into... dear... God... this place...

"My... God... this place is..." I said out loud as I saw the springs, they were amazing, the place looked like the baths of the Gods. The use of plant life in order to further the beautiful atmosphere surrounding it.

"I know it'sshh pretty good isshhn't it?" Keitaro said, still drunk.

"Yes, it is magnificent, that it is." I said as I started walking towards one of the pools of water.

I first put one of my feet in, to check the temperature of the water, the second my foot touched it, it literaly went numb from the soothing warmth of it. "Oh... my God. The temperature is even perffffeeect..." I moaned as I dipped my entire body into the water. Keitaro followed soon afterward, and his blush, caused by the alchohol, seemed to disappear and was replace by one of shear pleasure that only a hot spring of this caliber could bring.

"Yeah, and it really helps get the alchohol out of your system." Keitaro said as he began lowering his body even deeper into the water.

"So Keitaro-san what field will you major in at Tokyo U?" I said as I got a bucket of hot water and poured it on my head.

"Hmmm... well I'm not sure, but I think I'll do whatever I'm interested in." He said with a cheeky smile.

"Yes, I can agree with you there. It is better to seek what you love and are passionate about, than to ever try to choose perfection and power." I said in a sage-like tone while I just went numb in the water.

"Well then why do you work with swords? Wouldn't that count as seeking power and perfection." He said as I held up my hand to stop him.

"Well Keitaro-san, that is one of the things I am passionate about that it is." I said as I poured another bucket of water on my head.

"Hehehe... where did you learn that by the way? It sounds pretty wise for someone your age... wait how old did you say you were again?" Keitaro said as he sat up in the water.

I snickered before talking. "Well Keitaro-san I learned that from my mentor, and to how old I am..." I said as I began getting a feeling from the door... someone was out there... and I could tell by the ki that this person was female. I started standing in the water, I had not seen any signs saying this was a girl's bath.

"Kenshin-san, is anything wrong?" He said sitting up even straighter in the water.

"Keitaro-san." I said with a serious tone. "Get out of the water, tie your towel around you and wait behind that rock formation over there." I said as I pointed to a random rock formation ment to decorate the hot springs that would hide both me and Keitaro from the female presence. Keitaro only nodded as he walked out, tied his towel around his hips, and walked behind the rock, shortly followed by me. "Wait here until I tell you to move." I said as I began taking in the environment, it was misty from the mist rising from the springs, perfect for sneaking away from anyone.

'But how did she get so close without me noticing... I must not have been paying attention while I was soaking...' I thought as I watched the door open.

Keitaro and I watched as a beautiful woman walked out of the locker room, with only a towel hiding her features, and sat down in the hot spring. I noticed heat rising to my cheeks as I watched her and I sensed the same for Keitaro. "Hey.. hey you don't think we ended up in the girl's hot spring do you?" He said quietly in a shakey voice.

"I think that might just be the case Keitaro-san, but for now we should focus on getting out of here without being noticed. Follow me." I said as I began walking around the edge of the hot spring, Keitaro following my every step, as the woman bathed herself. We made it to the door, when I noticed someone else approaching, I quickly grabbed Keitaro, forced both himself and myself behind a rock formation beside the door, as another woman walked out, I recognized her ki as the one that I sensed while in the Sake room, also with nothing but a towel on. I knew that if she would close that door that would mean we wouldn't be able to escape without both of them noticing, I was just going to have to hope that I was fast enough to get through the doors as she closed them.

The woman began walking out towards the spring, throwing the door shut behind her without looking. 'Now!' I thought as I summoned as much speed as my body could, afterall it was still slightly numbed from the bath, and ran through the door while dragging Keitaro with me. We were both fortunate enought that we were able to slip through the door without us hitting it, as we both panted in the locker room area of the hot spring.

"Jeez that was a close one, you were really awesome back there? Are you a ninja too?" Keitaro asked as he began slipping his clothes back on.

"Well I did have some training in stealth, but not enough for you to call me a ninja." I said putting my red kimono over my white undershirt.

Soon both Keitaro and I were out of the locker area and back in the hallways of Hinata Inn. I relaxed figuring that if we were caught wondering the halls we couldn't possibly get into too much trouble... could we? Well the when things were good, there was always the distinct chance that they would go from bad to worse in life, a lesson I learned from Hiko, so I had to keep my wits about me. Keitaro nudged my shoulder, bringing me back into the real world.

"Hey you okay? You seemed kinda lost there for a second." Keitaro said with a bit of worry.

I untensed and smiled at the ronin's kindness. "I fine Keitaro-san, but thanks for the concern. I was just thinking of our current situation." I said still smiling.

"Oh okay. Now that I think about it, we might as well go down to the Tea House, my aunt may be there so she could probably get us settled in." Keitaro said scratching the back of his head.

"Yes that sounds like a good idea Keitaro-san." I said as I began following Keitaro down the halls of Hinata Inn once again. As we walked I noticed Keitaro had a light shade of pink on his cheeks. "Something the matter Keitaro-san?" I asked as Keitaro flinched and began blushing a little harder.

"Well I uh.. you see... did you see anything?" Keitaro said as I too began blushing lightly.

"Well... I didn't see much... I saw her... butt, but that was it..." I said, blushing as Keitaro blushed lowered a little bit.

"Same her, don't worry I won't tell if you won't." He said as my blush also lowered.

"Thank you Keitaro-san, I will remember this." I said to Keitaro, smiling at him as he grinned at me. But what we didn't notice in this moment of gratitude was the giant basket of clothing, slowly but surely walking towards us.

BAM

We walked right into the basket, causing all of the clothes to fall everywhere, even two pieces of clothing fell on top of our heads, the sleeves wrapping around our necks.

"Oh I am so sorry!" A tiny voice said in front of us as I saw a little girl, with blue hair, frantically picking up clothes, her back turned to us.

"Oh no problem miss, we weren't watching we weren't watching, that we weren't." I said as me and Keitaro also began helping pick up clothes. As we were I noticed the girl freeze in place as she turned around to look at us, fear all over her entire face. "Ummm... miss is anything wrong?" I said as I began inching closer to her.

All of a sudden she let out a shriek of terror. "THIEVES!!!" She screamed as the two women from the hot spring came out from the corner, they were clothed, they must've been coming out of the hot springs when they heard the girl scream.

"Thieves?!" The short haired one who looked like a fox said as she looked around.

"Right there!" The long, auburn haired one said as she pointed at us. I could suddenly feel extreme amounts of malice literally jumping off of their aura, and honestly, I was frightened.

"Keitaro-san..." I said in a low voice.

"Y-yes Kenshin-san..." Keitaro said in a voice filled with fear.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" I shouted in panic as both he and I ran down the hallway, as the other three began running after us. We were running down the hall as we reached a 'fork in the hallway', I wanted to go to the right but I sensed two auras down that hall. So as we reached the fork in the hallway I pulled Keitaro to the left.

"Wait wouldn't the other way lead to the entrance?" Keitaro said as he ran.

"Yes, but I don't think they would allow us enough time to open the sliding door to get out..." I said as I began to grimace.

"Good point..." Keitaro said as he sped up to keep up with me.

"Theives?!" I heard a rather serious sounding voice say at the end of the hall.

'Shit! How did that one catch up already?!' I thought as I saw a young swordswoman at the end of the hall, we froze in front of her as she reached for her weapon.

"You! Prepare to die theives!" The swordswoman said as she drew out her blade. "Shin Mei Ryu: Earth Shattering Strike!" She said as she released a large chi attack towards us.

'SHIT!' I thought as I saw the attack coming.

"Keitaro-san, do you trust me?" I said as Keitaro as he looked at me.

"Well, yes Kenshin-san!" He said as I forced him onto my back. "Why are you doing this!?" He said as I got him on.

"You'll see!" I said as I ran head on towards the attack.

"YOU'RE CRAZY!" Both Keitaro and the swordswoman shouted as the attack drew closer. In that instand I force all the strength I had in my legs and started running towards the wall to my right, I began running ON the wall, but I wasn't finished yet, I began moing towards the ceiling, eventually running on it as well. And as woman's attack passed by us...

"Motoko! You get them!?" The auburn haired girl shouted as she, the fox girl, and the blue haired girl popped out of the other hall, just in time to be hit by the girl apparently named 'Motoko's' attack.

"Naru, Kitsune, Shinobu!" Motoko shouted as she noticed me draw near. I had jumped lightly off the ceiling, twisted in mid-air in order to land on the left wall of the hallway, by then the clothes that were on our heads had fallen off. I looked at Motoko in the eye quickly, making her flinch a bit, and then leapt of that wall, right past Motoko, landed on and support beam in the hallway to the left, lept off that onto the ground, let Keitaro off there, though he was a bit dizzy we kept on running. Motoko stared quietly, while the other three caught up with her, all three of them covered in bruises.

General POV

"Motoko-chan... (Gasp) how did he... (Gasp) go so fast, he was past you... (Gasp) in the blink of an eye..." Naru started saying while gasping for air.

"I... I don't know... I haven't seen someone move that fast since.. my sister..." Motoko said as she saw us going around the corner.

"We can't worry about that now... (Gasp) we have to follow them..." Kitsune said, gasping as hard as Naru.

Motoko nodded as all three of them began to run to try and catch us again.

Kenshin POV

Meanwhile Keitaro and I were ahead, running for our lives, as we turned a corner I heard something bust open behind us. We turned aroun to see a Indian looking girl, dropping from the ceiling, with a giant rocket launcher in her hands.

"Theives eh?" She said as she took aim, while we just froze there.

"HOW DOES A KID GET HER HANDS ON A ROCKET LAUNCHER?!" Keitaro screamed as we watched.

"I honestly don't know how Keitaro-san, that I don't." We watched as Motoko, and the girls named Naru, Kitsune, and Shinobu, rounded the corner.

"What are you waiting for Su? Fire at them!" Motoko shouted as the girl 'Su' nodded.

"Okie dokie!" She said as she fired a giant rocket at us.

"OH SHIT!" Keitaro shouted as I drew out my sword out of its sheath.

"Don't worry Keitaro-san." I said as my eyes narrowed. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryusosen (Supersonic Sword Technic: Dragon's Nest Strike)!" I shouted as I began striking sections of the walls, ceiling, and support beams, in the blink of an eye. As the rocket neared, even though Keitaro should of been screaming he wasn't, everyone was to busy to notice the rocket when they saw how fast I made my movements. They were all wide-eyed as they looked upon me, Motoko eyes being widened the most.

'How... he moved... so fast..' She thought as the rocket drew closer to me and Keitaro.

And a a few split seconds before the rocket was about to hit us, parts of the ceiling, walls, and support beams I cut, fell and the rocket hit them, successfully protecting us from the blow, but in the process it caused the section of the hallway to complex. Keitaro stared wide-eyed, and so did the girls even if they didn't see it, at the destruction I had caused. Then all of a sudden it hit Keitaro and he ran to the rubble.

"Hello! Are all of you okay?" Keitaro said as he approached the rubble. His kindness really never does cease to amaze me. I too walked up to the rubble.

"Yes, are you all okay, I only meant to protect me and my friend here, I hope that no harm was done." I said as we heard movement on the other side.

"No damage! Look at this rubble! This is going to cost us so much to repair!" We heard Naru shout on the other side.

"Yeah!" We heard Kitsune and Motoko shout on the other side.

"Look we are sorry, that we are." I said while everyone on the other side raised on eyebrow.

'That we are?' Everyone on the other side of the rubble.

"And we will be happy to help you all if you (hiccup)." I said as I hiccuped.

"Wait!... That sounded like a Sake induced hiccup..." Kitsune said as she began thinking.

"Come to think of it... I think I did see a few Sake bottles around that one guy's sash." Shinobu said as Kitsune began to become angry.

"WHAT! DID YOU DRINKI MY SAKE!!!" Kitsune shouted as I backed away from the rubble.

"I'm sorry, when we first came we were looking for the manager's room, we thought your room was it so we entered, when we say what it looked like me and my friend cleaned it up to you. But I noticed the loose floorboard. I took it cause I needed a bit of a drink..." I said as I heard Kitsune shout.

"YOU DRANK IT! HOW OLD ARE YOU, YOU CAN'T BE OLD ENOUGH TO DRINK!" She said as everyone got an interested look.

"Yeah how old are you kid?" Everyone on the other side of the rubble asked.

"Yeah how old are you Kenshin-san?" Keitaro asked as I began tapping my chin, and I did something I did not even think I was quite stupid enough to do... I forgot how old I was...

"How old indeed? One, two, three..." I said as I started counting on my fingers while everyone face vaulted into the ground.

"YOU DON'T KNOW HOW OLD YOU ARE?!" Everyone shouted at the same time.

"If you don't mind I would like to finish counting. Four, five, six, seven..." I counted as everyone remained silent.

'Wow they're actually letting me finish counting.' I thought as I continued counting.

"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. Yes, I am fifteen years old, that I am." I said while rubbing the back of my head.

"WHAT THAT ISN'T NEARLY OLD ENOUGH TO DRINK!!!" Kitsune shouted as I backed away further from the wall.

"I am sorry, I wouldn't have taken any of your Sake if I knew it belonged to such a beautiful woman." I said as Kitsune began blushing.

"H-hey don't try to patronize us pal!!! That's it, Motoko blast away this rubble!" Kitsune shouted.

Motoko nodded as I grabbed Keitaro and began running.

"What? Why are we running?" Keitaro asked as he eventually picked up the pace.

"I don't want to be there when they get through that rubble!" I shouted as we began running up another couple flights of stairs.

"Good point." Keitaro said as we reached the top of the stairs.

When we got there, a metal door blocked it off, with a lock around the handle. I used my sword to destroy the lock, and then quickly ran through the door, and then sliced into the door, cut around the handle, and then removed it. I backed up a bit and then turned.. I noticed that we were on the annex... we were trapped. Keitaro and I backed up to the railing as we heard banging on the other side of the door...

All right everyone, better or worse than the other one?


	2. Shit We're In Trouble!

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Well by the feedback I have recieved it appears that this story will be continued to be written, so I will.

Here are my replies to the reviews;

**Omegagaurdian-** True, the other one was probably funnier (thus far) because of the first scene. I decided to put the new first scene there in order to create a kind of... looming doom... And thanks for telling me your opinion.

Infinite Freedom- Sorry man, it can only be one or the other.

Bobboky- Alright thanks.

silence- Well okay then.

ftayao- Well don't forget, this is a AU fic, so a little OCness is bound to happen. But if you could tell me what I'm 'doing wrong' it would help me.

Well now to get on with the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper.

Chapter 2: Shit!! We're in Trouble!!!

_Last Time_

_When we got there, a metal door blocked it off, with a lock around the handle. I used my sword to destroy the lock, and then quickly ran through the door, and then sliced into the door, cut around the handle, and then removed it. I backed up a bit and then turned.. I noticed that we were on the annex... we were trapped. Keitaro and I backed up to the railing as we heard banging on the other side of the door..._

_And Now For Our Featured Presentation_

Kenshin POV

I began seeing my entire live flash before my eyes. I knew that this could very well be my last moment on Earth, and what a sad moment it was. I barely had been in this new town, or in this hotel for that matter, for one day and, even though I could defend myself easily I wouldn't have even thought about killing them, I was about to die, killed by girls, with a guy shaking beside me in fear... oh did I forget to mention that while we backed up we began to... well you ever see how when someone is extremely scared they will latch onto someone and start shaking wildly, well that was what he was doing, but he was also choking me.. But I had to say something before I died...

"Ke-Keitaro-san..." I said my voice shaking in fear, and lack of oxygen

"Y-yes Kenshin-san?" Keitaro said in an even more frightened voice.

"I-I just want you to know that even though I have only know you for..." I said as I pulled out a small pocket watch from my robe, and then put it back. "Two hours... I want you to know that it was a pleasure to get to know a man as kind as you sir, that it was." I said, as lumps started appearing in the door.

"Same here Kenshin-san, same here." He said as more lumps appeared in the door.

"And listen, if you somehow make it through this, I want you to tell my father I'll miss him." I said as I could here muffled sounds coming from the other side of the door.

"And... what's his name?" Keitaro said letting go of my neck and pulling out a notepad.

"Oh, its Hiko." I said as Keitaro wrote it down. "Seijuro." I said as Keitaro looked puzzled for a second.

"How do you spell 'Seijuro'." Keitaro said as I began tapping my chin.

"It's spelled S. E. I. J. U. R. O. Got it?" I said as Keitaro wrote each letter of Hiko's last name onto the notepad.

"Okay I got it, and sure I'll tell him." Keitaro said as he put the notepad back into his man purse.

"Okay thanks." I said as Keitaro began pulling me back into his frightened death grip.

"No problem." He said as the door busted open, flying towards us. "AAAHHHH!!!" Keitaro said as he released his death grip on my neck. I stood and put my right hand on my sword's hilt, and my left on my sheath as I got down into my stance. But then I sensed someone in the doorway, waiting for me to make my move... time to pull a fast one on them.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu!" I shouted as the door came even closer to me. "Batto-jutsu (Supersonic Sword Technique- Art of Drawing the Blade)!" I said as I arched my knees and drew my blade and hit the door with a vertical slash, splitting it in half, and forcing the two halves into seperate sides of the railing. Then out of the doorway, Motoko jumped foward.

"Now I got you! Shinmeiryu: Zanga..." Motoko began shouting till...

BAM

I thrust my sheath into her ribs, causing her to lose her breath, and also be thrown back a few feet backwards. "Soryusen (Twin Dragon Spark)!" I shouted as she continued flying through the air.

'But how!? I heard of many Batto-jutsu... he shouldn't have been able to... keep me from destroying...' She thought until she saw my sheath. 'He... he used his sheath in order to cover up the weakness of a Batto-jutsu! Amazing... he did something.. that not even my sister... could think to do...' Motoko thought as she hit the ground in front of the doorway, and the other Hinata Sou housemates.

"MOTOKO-CHAN!" All of the house members shouted coming out of the doorway.

"Motoko-chan!" Su shouted as she jumped over to Motoko... and began poking her ribs with a stick.

"OW! Su don't do that..." Motoko groaned out as she sat up.

"YAAAA! SHE'S ALIVE!" Su shouted as she began jumping up and down. Then she took a look in my direction with an envious gaze. "Wow! How did you do that to Motoko-chan, I couldn't make her go owie even if I hugged her as tight as I could!" Su said as she began hugging herself while I only had a singular huge sweatdrop form on the back of my head. "Are you some kind of super villian!?" Su asked as she got into my face.

"Ummm..." I began saying as Su jumped away.

"That must be it, you must be a super villian, and you must get your powers from..." Su said building up a dramatic pause. "TURTLES!!!" Su shouted making Motoko shudder.

'Turtles...' Motoko thought as she stood back up

"But serioiusly how did he do that to Motoko?" Naru said as she helped hold Motoko up.

"Now then, I am sorry for that, but if I didn't do that I would've been seriously hurt." I said as I put my sheath back onto my side, and my sword back into my sheath.

"You get hurt!? Why should we worry about that you're a Sake thief!" Kitsune shouted as she pointed at me.

"Look I'm sorry for that, but it was an honest mistake, if you would allow us to talk, like civil people, then we could straighten this all out." I said as I smiled.

"How could you straighten out my bottles of Sake, the rubble in the hallway, the door to this annex, and now Motoko!" Kitsune and Naru shouted at the same time.

"Look I'm sorry, but just allow me and my friend to talk, we can straighten this out, and help you fix all of your damages I swear on my honor as a..." I started saying as I walked towards them.

"Get away from us you theif! NARU PUNCH!!!" Naru shouted as she hit me square in the jaw and launched me into the railway, Keitaro screamed slightly as he saw me fly into the railway.

"Kenshin-san! Are you alright!?" Keitaro said as he began shaking me.

I groaned from the pain that was held inside my body as I tried to stand. "Y-yes Keitaro-san, I am..." I said as a small pouch slipped out of my pocket and then hit the sidewalk. "MY WALLET!" I shouted as I saw a dog walk by, sniff my wallet, and then grab it with his teeth and run down the street. "THAT DOG HAS MY WALLET!!!" I shouted as I tried to jump over the railway.

"Kenshin-san! Calm down!" Keitaro shouted! 

"I know that if I jump now maybe I can catch it before it gets away!" I shouted as I fought against Keitaro.

"Calm down!" Keitaro shouted as he slapped me in the face.

"Thank you Keitaro-san, I needed that... but now that dog has my wallet that I was supposed to use to buy the train ticket to Kyoto, and spend the night at this hotel (Sigh)." I said, sighing while all the other girls look at me like I was crazy.

"Yeah I know, but hey I'll help pay your way." Keitaro said earning a few strange looks from the grils.

"Thanks Keitaro-san, I owe you a lot man." I said as I scratched the back of my head.

"Hotel, what are you two talking about?" Kitsune said as she began to calm down.

"Well this is the Hinata Inn isn't it?" I said as the girls now began looking at me as if I knew absolutely nothing.

"Don't try to trick us! There's no way you wouldn't have known that Granny Hina changed this place to a girl's dorm!" Naru said as the rest of the girls nodded, and we had looks of shock on our faces.

"WHAT!?" We both shouted!

"This place was turned into a girl's dormitory?! Hey did you know anything about this Kenshin-san?!" Keitaro semi-shouted as he looked into my direction.

"No Keitaro-san, I was just as ignorant of the situation as you were, that I was." I said as I began to think. "However that would explain why I haven't seen a single male guest here since we've been chased." I said as Keitaro's head simply dropped.

"Come to think of it you're right." He said as he sighed.

One of the girls coughed to try and get our attention, but Keitaro and I were just too encumbered by grief to hear them. "Now where am I supposed to stay this place was my last chance." Keitaro said in a defeated tone, while the girls started coughed again.

"I know what you mean, and now not only do I have no money to get to Kyoto, I have no place to stay in this entire city." I said as I crossed my arms. "What to do, what to do." I said as the girls coughed even louder than before.

"(Sigh) Oh well, I've had worse times than this..." Keitaro said in a defeated, but yet also slightly hopeful tone. "And I've gotten through those times too so I guess things will turn out for the best." Keitaro said making me grin slightly.

"I have to say your hope for this situation is astounding Keitaro-san. And I guess you're right." I said putting my hands to my sides. "I have also been through much worse than this, but I think I can find a way out of this." I said as the girls began to become slightly angry, well Kitsune, Naru, and Motoko were, about being completely ignored.

"Yeah, I have a good feeling about the rest of the day." Keitaro said in a excited tone.

"As do I Keitaro-san, as do I." I said, not even aware of the three girls just within ten feet of us who wanted to kill us.

"Say you wanna travel around the city for another hotel, I'll even help you pay for it." Keitaro said making me smile.

"Thank you Keitaro-san, your generousity is much appreciated, but I think I'll just find a few odd jobs in this city to help pay for a hotel." I said as he began laughing.

"That's cool, being a rurouni must be a cool life experience." Keitaro said as I began laughing as well.

"Actually some times it is, you wouldn't believe the interesting people you get to meet whenever you travel around, and all of the knowledge you pick up." I said as Motoko's, Kitsune's, and Naru's faces began glowing red.

"That does sound pretty awesome." Keitaro said as this time we both heard a very loud cough. We both turned our heads to see the girls, just standing there staring at us. "Yes, you need something?" Keitaro said making all of the girls face vault onto the ground.

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHY YOU'RE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" Naru shouted as both me and Keitaro began tapping out chin's.

"Actually I kinda did." Keitaro said making the girls face vault again.

"Yeah same here, could you remind us?" I said, because I actually had forgotten why we were here, not suprising seeing as how I had forgotten my own age, making the girls face vault even harder.

"YOU'RE HERE CAUSE WE'RE GOING TO BEAT YOU BOTH TO A PULP FOR BEING THEIVES!!!!" Most of the girls shouted as both me and Keitaro's face began taking on that of a grimace.

"Oh yeah..." We both said as we looked at each other, then back to the girls, before backing up to the railway and kinda holding each other again while shaking...

"Now you thieves..." Motoko said drawing her blade.

"prepare to get..." Kitsune said cracking her knuckles.

"what you deserve..." Naru said, also cracking her knuckles.

"TIME FOR YOUR BEATING!" Su shouted as she pulled out another rocket launcher.

"Where does she keep on getting these rocket launchers!" Both Keitaro and I began screaming as suddenly there was a deep sigh coming from the doorway.

"Well, I see that all of have met my nephew and... this guy I don't know." A rather bored sounding voice said as everyone turned to see an older looking woman at the door, smoking a cigarette. When Keitaro saw her his face immediately began lighting up with hope.

"Aunt Haruka!!!" Keitaro yelled as he lept towards 'Haruka' as she hit him over the head with a fan.

"I told you it's Haruka-san!" She said as she took another drag of her cigarette.

"Eh?" The five girls all said out loud as Keitaro stood up.

"Sorry Haruka-san." Keitaro said scratching the back of his head.

"It's okay Keitaro." Haruka said taking another drag of her cigarette. "So who's this guy right here?" Haruka said bringing Keitaro's attention back to the situation at hand.

"Oh yeah. Haruka-san, I would like you to meet..." Keitaro started saying before Su began yelling.

"TIME TO BLOW UP THE THIEF!!!" She said as she aimed her rocket launcher.

"NO DON'T DO THAT!" Keitaro shouted as Su pressed the button and a huge rocket sped towards me. I simply jumped to my feet and with all of the skill I had gained in my training, I lunged fowards, towards the projectile that was coming towards me. "Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūkansen Arashi (Dragon Spiral Strike Storm)!" As the missle neared I somersaulted foward, my sword drawn out of its sheath and above my head, as the missle harmlessly passed above my head.

In the next instance I was kneeling on the ground, my sword still in my hands, as the missle went behind me. Then all of a sudden the missle split into two pieces, and the two individual pieces spiraled out of control into different directions. The missle halves were heading for a room on the third floor and a room on the second floor...

BOOM

A giant explosion sounded as the rocket hit the two rooms, causing them to both combust. As I stood up a large sweat drop appeared on my head as I nervously looked at the girls. "Ummm... I can fix that..." I said as I noticed Kitsune and Motoko had their heads down, their fists shaking like crazy.

"Those..." Kitsune said, venom lacing her words.

"Were..." Motoko said, her voice sounding slightly demonic.

"OUR ROOMS!!!" Kitsune and Motoko shouted as Kitsune ran up to me and sent me a powerful upper cut, sending me about twenty feet into the air. Then Motoko sent a ki wave right at me, when it struck there was an explosion so large that it sent me and additional fifty feet into the air. Then Su smiled and pulled out another rocket and stuck it in her rocket launcher.

"Oh boy, target pratice!" Su shouted as she aimed her rocket launcher for me, and then with the push of a button sent a rocket flaring out towards me. I simply was there, in mid-air, watching the rocket comes towards my way. This time thanks to Kitsune's and Motoko's combination attack I was in no condition to do anything about the giant explosive heading towards me...

KABOOM!!!!

The explosion sounded as the rocket hit me and exploded. There was a large cloud of smoke surrounding me until I began falling. I fell out of the cloud of smoke and I looked down, myself barely able to make out my surroundings, but it looked like I would be landing into the waters of the hot spring. Several seconds later I hit the water of the hot springs... and everything went dark for a few minutes.

General POV

Everyone on the annex stared for a second before Haruka broke the silence. "Come on, let's go see if he's alive." Haruka said as everyone began following her down the stairs. "So can anyone explain to me what is going on here?" Haruka said as Keitaro was about to talk, but was interupted by three of the girls.

"Well you see Haruka-san, it all started when Shinobu screamed about how there were thieves in the house!" Naru shouted Shinobu nodded.

"Then we ran and found these two, your nephew..." Kitsune said while kinda just looking back and forth between Keitaro and Haruka, trying to find any sign that they were actually related. "And that read-haired dude in front of Shinobu wearing these hood things." Kitsune said pointing an accusing finger at Keitaro.

"Wait a minute those were just..." Keitaro began saying before being interupted again.

"Then we began chasing them, and while they were running Motoko cut them off." Naru said while Motoko nodded.

"Then I attempted to cut them down with one of my techniques which the red-haired one simply dodged by running on the walls and ceiling.. and the attack..." Motoko said as she glanced at the other girls as they shuddered about being hit by Motoko's technique.

"Then I found them and I tested my latest invention on them, but the red-haired guy just went whoosh!!!!" Su said as she began making swinging gestures with her arms. "And then, and then the ceilings, walls, and even support beams went CRASH!!" Su said, this time gesturing the parts of the hallway falling. "And then they hit my rocket and it went BOOM!" Su said as she jumped up into the air. "And then the hallway went bye-bye!" She said describing the rubble in the hallway. "And it was FUN!!!" She said jumping around.

"AND THEN WE FOUND OUT THEY STOLE SOME OF MY SAKE AND DRANK IT!!!" Kitsune shouted in anger.

"And then they ran to the annex and that was basically it." Naru said as they reached the base floor, and then began traversing the hallways to try to get to the hot springs.

Haruka actually had a very shocked look on her face. "Wow Motoko, you must be slipping for someone to be able to dodge your attack." Haruka said making Motoko's head lower. "And even more so for him to do that kind of damage to you." Haruka said pointing to how Motoko was holding her ribs. Motoko only was able to let out a low growl before regaining her composure. "Now then, Keitaro, could you fill in the rest of the story?" Haruka said as Keitaro's head perked up.

"Oh yeah sure Aunt Haruka." Keitaro said earning yet another hit from a fan. "Ow... anyway, where should I begin..." Keitaro said as he began tapping his chin.

"Try from when you first got here." Haruka said taking another drag of her cigarette.

"Oh yeah good idea. Let's see here, well when I first walked in this morning I saw Kenshin-san..." Keitaro said earning Haruka's attention.

"His name's Kenshin?" Haruka said taking another drag.

"Yeah, Kenshin Himura is his name." Keitaro said to Haruka.

"Huh. Good name for a swordsman, continue nephew." Haruka said as the other girls had there own thoughts... much of them being the same.

'Kenshin... sword heart... Himura... of the scarlet village? Sword heart of the scarlet village...' All of the girls thought... well except for Su, she just thought...

'Wow! What a cool name!!! That sounds lika a awesome name for a manga character!!!' Su thought while Keitaro continued his story.

"Anyway, I saw Kenshin-san meditating inside, we talked for about a minute and then he said he needed to see granmda to see if he could get a room. So we made our way around the place, trying to find grandma's room so we could see her, but we ended up in a room filled with Sake bottles and other trash, apparently hers." Keitaro said while pointing to Kitsune.

"Damn straight!" Kitsune shouted at the mention of her room.

"So we began cleaning it up, and then Kenshin-san found a loose floorboard where there was some Sake stashed. He figured anyone who drank that much wouldn't need anymore Sake, and that grandma when we saw her may like a drink so he took the bottles." Keitaro said earning a glare from Kitsune. "Then when we got to grandma's room it was empty so we waited for a while... then Kenshin and I drank the Sake..." Keitaro said while scratching the back of his head, not sure whether or not to tell them about his and Kenshin's bath in the hot springs.

'If I do tell them then they'll definetly kill Kenshin and me...' He thought as he decided to keep that information to himself.

"Then we began wandering around the halls, I thought that if we couldn't find grandma we could at least find you, and that's when we bumped into that girl here." Keitaro said while pointing to Shinobu. "And caused the clothes she were carrying to scatter all over the place. So we decided to help her pick them up, and when we finished she saw us and screamed... and that's basically it." Keitaro said while Haruka took another drag of her cigarette.

"... And things were so quite before..." Haruka said out loud making Keitaro lower his head.

"(Sigh) You know you could be a little more supportive." Keitaro said as they reached the hot spring area. As they walked in there was so must mist in the area that they could barely even see their hands right in front of their faces. Then all of a sudden, there was a moan coming from in front of them, and my body's form started showing up as the strange figure continued to moan.

"OH NO!!! HE DIED AND NOW HE'S A ZOMBIE!!! DIE ZOMBIE!!!" Su shouted as she pulled her rocket launcher back out.

"SU! NOOOOO!!!" Everyone shouted at once as Su launched another rocket at me, and hit its mark dead on. As the smoke, debris, and mist cleared it showed the figure, completely covered in black.

Kenshin POV

The figure was me, and Su had once again shot me with one of her rockets. I coughed up a little bit of smoke before I collapsed, landing in a hot spring. The others ran over to me, and Keitaro and Haruka pulled me out, most of the black had been washed of me by the spring, but I had those spinning symbols in my eyes.

"Kenshin-san, are you alright?!" Keitaro said shaking me slightly.

"(Moan) No... (Moan) (Cough)" I said as they began carrying me to the living room. They layed me down on the coach, I was still very... disorientated. "Where am I... wasn't I in the springs being blown up?" I said sounding very dazed.

"Su, I mean sure he might be theif, but don't you think you over did it a bit?" Naru said making me sigh slightly.

'Great, she still thinks we're theives...' I thought as I lay there.

"I'm sorry, its just that he's so fun!" Su shouted energetically.

Haruka coughed to get everyone's attention once again. "Now that everyone's here I think it's time we discuss what we're going to do about this." Haruka said while Keitaro perked his head up.

"Yeah, I need a place to stay, and so does Kenshin-san so..." Keitaro started saying before being cut off by Naru.

"Absolutely NOT!" Naru shouted at him.

"Come on. I only need to stay here for a little while, and Kenshin-san would only need to stay until he can get enough money to buy a ticket to Kyoto." Keitaro said in a pleading tone. "Besides we didn't know the inn had been converted to a girl's dorm." Keitaro said hoping to gain some support from me, but unfortunetly I was still quite dazed.

"No way!" Naru shouted, and this time Kitsune joined in with her.

"There's no way guys could stay in a GIRL'S dormitory! You might end up doing something... weird!!!" Naru shouted slamming her hand on the desk.

"Yeah besides, you guys are SAKE THIEVES!" Kitsune shouted also slamming her hand on the table.

"Yeah, but also you guys have done practically THOUSANDS of yen worth of damage!" Naru shouted as Kitsune practically jumped on top of the table.

"Yeah! And you destroyed Motoko's room and my room!" Kitsune said while Keitaro kinda backed up.

"Wait a minute that was her fault!" Keitaro kinda shouted in a frightened tone while pointing at Su.

"And on top of that, you hurt Motoko-chan, and you terrified Shinobu!" Naru shouted while Keitaro only backed away even more.

"Well, it wasn't that bad, I mean they didn't look all that threatening honestly. I was just shocked I guess..." Shinobu said while Keitaro and I thought.

'Do we really look that pathetic?' As our heads sunk.

"This isn't good, I thought grandma would let me stay for sure, so I barely brought any money with me... oh yeah, where is grandma anyway, I'm sure if I talk with her she'd..." Keitaro said before being cut off by Haruka.

"She's not here." Haruka said in between drags of her cigarettes.

"What?" Keitaro said sounding a bit shocked.

"A year ago she went on vacation to tour the entire world, and she hasn't been back since. We do recieve an occasional fax from her though, but none recently." Haruka said taking anoth drag of her cigarette.

"A... world... tour?" Keitaro said completely and utterly shocked.

"Yes, though she has pasted the retirement age she still wanted to go out and seek some new romance.. or something along those lines. So she took the opportunity and turned this place into a girl's dorm and just up and left." Haruka said while Keitaro just sat back in on the couch.

"I see... (Sigh) so she's not here... that's it..." Keitaro said while he sighed and stood up. "I understand, it's not right for a man to stay in a girl's dormitory.." Keitaro said while standing. I moaned as I was upset, yet understanding, about our problems, I still couldn't talk too much because I could still barely open my eyes without becoming dazed. "Sorry for disturbing all of you." Keitaro said as he picked me up off the couch and slung me over his shoulder.

"Sorry Keitaro. Living here would've saved you a lot of rent money. The commute would've been hard is all." Haruka said in an apologetic tone.

"(Sigh) Yeah... it would've been." Keitaro sighed out.

Haruka looked a little down at first, but then she perked up as she cooked up an idea. "So, you should be a sophomore at Tokyo U now shouldn't you?" Haruka said with a smile.

"What?" Keitaro said with a look of suprise on his face.

"Yeah, you should be in your second year at Tokyo U by now right?" Haruka said as she winked at Keitaro.

Keitaro laughed lightly before answering. "Come one Haruka-san, you know Tokyo U has only been a objective for me these past few..." Keitaro started saying before...

'Something wicked this way comes...' I thought as I suddenly felt aprehensive about the surging ki that suddenly made an appearance as Haruka finished her sentence.

"Tokyo U?" We both heard coming from the girls. Keitaro slowly turned to see the shocked faces of four out of five of the girls. "TOKYO UNIVERSITY!!!" They all shouted at once.

"Ye... yeah..." Keitaro said backing away from the girls.

"YOU'RE A TOKYO U STUDENT! THAT'S AMAZING!!!" They all shouted at once again.

"Wait, wait a minute!" Keitaro said trying to get himself out of the lie that Haruka had just basically created.

"Man you don't look all that smart." Kitsune said pushing Keitaro on the couch, causing him to drop me on the floor.

'Ow.' I thought as I moaned on the floor.

"I guess you really can't judge someone just by how they look." Motoko said while resting her head on her hand.

"Now just wait a minute!!!" Keitaro started saying.

"What's Tokyo Ewe? Is it edible, what does it taste like!!??" Su started shouting.

I just sat there on the floor, listening to the choas insue, that I could not even throw my two cents into. I already knew that this wasn't true, and the fact that I couldn't even stop it because I could barely even stand was already frustrating to me.

"OKAY!" Kitsune said getting everyone's attention. "How about this everyone? We let him stay and be our tutor!" Kitsune said earning a confused look from Keitaro.

"Now just.. stop.. let me talk!!" Keitaro said while everyone ignored him.

"Don't worry we'll let your friend stay here too." Kitsune said while grinning while Keitaro simply shut up.

'Kenshin-san needs a place to stay... I guess that I'm going to have to risk this.' Keitaro said while straightening up.

I still sat there on the ground I began struggling to get up, which after a little while I could. I began getting up on my knees, then I was able to plant my left foot on the ground, then my right. Then I stood all the way up, my body in so much pain it was killing me, but I couldn't let Keitaro do this, I couldn't let him get himself, and myself, into something we couldn't handle. But... I stood up just in time to hear this...

"WELCOME TO HINATA SOU!!!" They all shouted at Keitaro and I at once.

"Umm... thanks?" We both said at once. "Pleased to meet all of you." We said one after the other. Then I started walking off.

"Hey where are you going?" Kitsune said while I walked.

I turned around to face my now fellow roomate Kitsune and smiled lightly at her. "Well Kitsune-san, I'm afraid that because of the recent beatings I have taken on today that my body feels like it could fall apart on me at any second. So I will be taking a more... relaxing dip in the hot spring so that I can recover a bit, that I am. Please no one enter till I exit, thank you." I said as I made my way out of the room.

I made my ways through the hallways, and back at the doors to the hot spring. I stepped inside the locker room area again, took off all of my clothes, and then dipped myself into one of the pools of spring water, allowing the warmth of it to just relax my throbbing body. I sat there for a few moments, I needed some time to think. I began thinking about things that needed to be done before things got out of hand, and even about the current situation.

'Well, maybe this is a good thing, afterall I mean Keitaro-san and I do need a place to stay, and maybe I can make some money around the town with this place as my temporary home.' I thought as I sunk deeper into the relaxing waters. I heard the sliding door open and I sunk deeper into the water to prevent someone, if it were one of the girls who didn't listen to me, from seeing something. I saw that it was Haruka and my body immediately untensed.

"Yes Haruka-san?" I said dumping a bucket of hot water over my head.

"I heard about your money situation and since I'm technically the person taking care of the dorms now, I got an offer for you." She said making me turn to look at her.

"Thank you Haruka-san." I said as she began waving it off.

"I haven't even told you what the job is yet." Haruka said taking a drag of her cigarette.

"I'm thanking you for helping me, that I am." I said sinking into he water even deeper.

"No problem kid." Haruka said while smiling a bit. "Anyway, I want to hire you to take care of the place. You know kinda like a..." Haruka said trying to think of the right term.

"Repairman, cook, cleaning personel?" I said listing jobs that might be found in a dorm.

"Well not a cook, but yeah other than that." Haruka said taking another drag of her cigarette.

"Alright then, I'll take it. Thank you Haruka-san." I said while sinking deeper into the water.

"No problem." Haruka said while walking out. I watched her until she left and allowed myself to sigh, I was expecting it to be a while before I would be getting a job for some money, but now that I have that done I have no more problems... except one.

'According to Hiko-san Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu was more suited for more muscular men such as him. If I want to apply my style to its fullest I best continue training, as early as tomorrow.' I thought as I got out of the water and went back into the locker room. I quickly put my robes and things back on as I walked outsidet the locker room. As I got out I saw Haruka there waiting.

"Oh, and by the way, you'll be sharing a room with my nephew, in the manager's room." She said as she walked off.

"Thank you!" I said as I began walking towards my new room.

I finally got back to the manager's room to see that Keitaro was sitting in front of the small desk in the room. I looked around and saw Keitaro's bags had been unpacked and that his things were place around the entire room. Since I never really carried anything on me except my sword and my current pair of robes there was nothing of mine to be seen in this room except for a rack for my sword and a futon for me to sleep on. Keitaro turned to me and smiled lightly.

"You really pack light don't you?" He said while smiling lightly while I only smiled and nodded.

"When you travel constantly there is very little need to pack many things." I said as I sat down beside him. We both sat there for a second before we both just sighed. "What are we going to do?" I said sounding depressed.

"Yeah I know, I got myself into quite the situation, and I dragged you along for the ride." Keitaro said in an apologetic tone.

"It's no problem, afterall if you didn't then I wouldn't have a room to stay in while I'm here. Or a job to get me some money for that matter." I said while smiling.

"You gotta job?" Keitaro said in a shocked tone.

"Yeah, your aunt hired me to do some work around here." I said while Keitaro patted me on the shoulder.

"Congratulations!" Keitaro said.

"Thanks, couldn't have done it if you hadn't taken the fall." I said while Keitaro scratched the back of his head.

"No problem, I was glad to do it Kenshin-san." Keitaro said as he walked over to the window. "Man you gotta take a look at this view." Keitaro said as I nodded and began walking over to the balcony.

"Wow." I said as we overlooked the entire city, it was truly a spectacular sight. And the sea it was even more amazing. This was only the day view, so I could only imagine the night view when all of the lights would be turned on.

"It's funny isn't it?" Keitaro said while looking out.

"What is?" I said also enjoying the view.

"How much of a difference the name Tokyo U can make." Keitaro said while taking off his glasses and cleaning them with his shirt.

"Yes, but then you gotta expect that, when people meet people who will grow to become rich and powerful, like people who graduate from Tokyo U will most likely become, they will in essence begin to change there entire views." I said as I gained a more dark look in my eyes. "Titles, that's all that matters to most people now a days." I said earning a nodd from Keitaro. "But then again if it weren't for that we wouldn't have a room here now would we?" I said earning a nod from Keitaro.

Keitaro looked out to the sea again. "It's been a while since I was able to talk to girls like that." Keitaro said while I glanced at him.

"Yeah, I barely got to talk to many girls while I trained with my father." I said while Keitaro looked over to me.

"You mean you never went to school?" Keitaro said curiously.

"By technical means no, I was home schooled really." I said while grinning.

"I never would've guessed that." Keitaro said while turning his attention back to the view.

"So, speaking of girls, did you ever have a girlfriend?" I said while Keitaro kinda blushed.

"Well... no not really..." Keitaro said while put my hand on his shoulder.

"Do not worry about telling me, I promise I won't say anything, afterall you and I are in the same boat, that we are." I said while patting his shoulder.

"Cool. But, while I never had a girlfriend, there was this girl... who I considered... my sweetheart..." Keitaro said while I looked at him.

"So who was this sweetheart of yours?" We both heard from behind, scaring us out of our skins. We turned around to see Kitsune behind us.

"Wha.. wha... wha... Mitsune?" Keitaro gasped out after his scream.

"Oh so you remembered my name. My full name is Mitsune Konno. But my friends call me Kitsune!" Kitsune said while grinning.

"Uh.. hi. My name.. is Keitaro Urashima..." Keitaro said while sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"Hello Tokyo U student Keitaro." Kitsune said while smiling.

"And my name is Kenshin Himura." I said while bowing slightly.

"Hello Sake thief, and property destroying Kenshin." Kitusne said while scowling

"I said it was a misunderstanding, and an accident for that matter, I'm sorry, that I am." I said while keeping my smile on my face.

"And I don't care, now Motoko and I gotta sleep in the Tea House with Haruka, she won't even allow me to have any Sake in there!!!!" Kitsune said making myself tense a great amount while Keitaro was just thankful the yelling wasn't directed at him.

"Please, let him off the hook, it was just a misunderstanding, and an accident." Keitaro said while Kitsune smirked and winked at him.

"But speaking of misunderstandings, she really was very mean wasn't she?" Kitsune said while leaning against the wooden rail of the balcony.

"Who?" Keitaro said confused.

"Naru Narusegawa, the girl who was really against you both coming at first, other than me." Kitsune said while we both nodded.

"Oh yeah, that girl with the long hair..." Keitaro said while also leaning against the rail.

"Well I wouldn't call her mean, today was afterall not exactly the most normal day for any of us so I wouldn't blame her." I said while crossing my arms.

"Yep.." Kitsune said while gaining a smirk on her face. "So Keitaro..." Kitsune said getting both of our attention. "You... prefer girls with long hair huh?" Kitsune said while faking a blush.

"No, no, no! That's not it!" Keitaro said while getting highly excited.

I just watched this spectacle in a little bit of interest, I never had seen too many men and women converse, but from what I could tell it was awkward, there was lots of stuttering, and... wait, her ki signature... is she acting?!

"Keitaro do you have a girlfriend?" Kitsune said while grabbing Keitaro's hands.

"Eh?! No, of course not." Keitaro said growing more flustered by the second.

"That's just perfect then..." Kitsune said while letting go of Keitaro's hands. "Cause for the longest time... I have always had this dream to date someone from Tokyo U." Kitsune said making Keitaro's face begin practically glowing.

"Wha.. eh!?" Keitaro started off, not even being able to form whole sentences.

"Oh I did it again... I haven't even asked how you feel and I'm telling you this..." Kitsune said while getting closer to Keitaro.

'Wow if she's acting then she's doing a very good job, that she is.' I thought as I continued watching Kitsune seduce Keitaro.

"Keitaro what do you think of me?" Kitsune said while holding Keitaro's hand.

"Wh... wha... wha... what do you mean?" Keitaro said, his face very similar to that of a light bulb at this point.

"Here, words aren't enough..." Kitsune started saying as she began pulling Keitaro's hand to her left boob. I watched with my eyes practically bugging out of my head. Now I am sure this is unacceptable, cause I remember Hiko-san was going to touch a woman's breast when he was drunk and he got slapped. I quickly grabbed Kitsune's forearm and Keitaro and Kitsune looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Now, now there Kitsune-san. I'm pretty sure that is not acceptable." I said as I pulled Kitsune's arm back.

"Well he doesn't seem to care whether it is acceptable or not." Kitsune said while pointing out Keitaro's practically glowing face, and pulling his arm closer to her breast.

"Well he doesn't seem capable of making his own decisions at this point now does he?" I asked as I pulled Kitsune's arm back, and then Kitsune pulled back, then I did, then Kitsune, then I did, and then it turned out into an all out tug-of-war between us. That is, until Naru, Su, and Motoko barged in, causing Kitsune to blush at how this current situation looked.

"What the hell are you doing Kitsune?!" Motoko and Naru shouted as Kitsune began stummbling with her words.

"Well.. uh umm..." Kitsune began saying as she ran to the rail on the balcony. "You'll never get the answers out of me alive!" Kitsune said as she jumped.

"Wait! Suicide is not the answer!" I said as I ran to the railway. After I got to the edge everyone heard three sounds; the sound of clothes tearing, the sound of something hitting the ground, and the sound of a woman screaming as well as the sound of a sliding door quickly opening and closing. Everyone looked at me as I simply stood at the railway, not saying a thing.

"Kenshin-san?" Keitaro said as he walked over to me. "Are you alright?" He said as he looked at my face, which was completely red. The other three girls came over and looked down. They saw first, Kitsune's shirt and... bra... stuck on a large splinter sticking out of the edge of the balcony, and the imprint of Kitsune on the ground... then it became clear...

'He saw her naked...' Keitaro thought as he blushed.

'He saw Mitsune-san naked...' Motoko thought as she watched me.

'HE SAW KITSUNE'S GIRLS!!!' Naru thought as she also began watching me.

"Keitaro, are you alright? I mean you've been like that for a little while..." Keitaro said as he poked me and then, as if it were triggered by touching me, I began shaking fiercely.

"LOOK OUT HE'S GOING TO BLOW!!!" Su shouted as everyone backed up in time to see blood start shooting itself out of my nose, and launching me, or more specifically my head, into the wall of our room, and knocked myself out. Everyone just stood there and looked over my body, out cold, blood still coming out of my nose, and for the second time that day I had the spinning symbols in my eyes.

General POV

"Well... I guess this would probably as good a time as any to tell you to knock before you enter the bathrooms here. Okay... well... we'll send up some nose plugs and a cold towel here in a second." Naru said, obviously feeling very uncomfortable.

"Well, I think I need to talk to Mitsune-san's perverted act." Motoko said also feeling uncomfortable.

"And I'll go with Motoko-chan!!!" Su shouted as she jumped on Motoko's back as all three girls left the room.

Keitaro sighed as he looked at my body, lifted it up, and then carried it over to one of the futons, and put me in it. He got a tissue and began wiping all of the extra blood off of me. Naru came in with the nose plugs and towel.

"Man... today... has been so weird..." Naru said as she put the towel on my forehead while Keitaro put the plugs in my nose to prevent me from bleeding on myself. "I mean, it is just so weird..." Naru repeated.

"Yeah I know..." Keitaro said as Naru began leaving the room.

"Oh yeah, and don't forget to tell Kenshin about the bathroom thing." Naru said as she closed the door. Keitaro sighed as he walked over to the desk where many of his books were as he began studying.

Kenshin POV

I began waking up a few minutes later after being knocked out. I had to say, I thought that my first sight of a breast would be more... endearing than the stories Otou-san told me of. I woke up with a headache and feeling a bit groggy, afterall I had just hit my head on the wall. I sat up, and noticed Keitaro sitting at his desk, writing in some book. "Hello Keitaro-san." I said making him practically jump out of his skin.

"Where are you going Keitaro-san?" I said still trying to get the clutter out of my head.

"To use the restroom, oh and by the way, knock before you use it." Keitaro said as he noticed the confused look on my face. "Naru said so." He said as I nodded in understanding.

"Oh okay then. I'll just rest some more." I said as I layed back down in bed.

"Okay see ya then." Keitaro said as he opened and closed the door, and left the room.

I layed there for a few minute, thinking about everything that has happened so far today. Today was very hectic now that I think about it, but then again I've been out cold for a good portion of it so I can't say to much. Tonight, I should probably get as much rest as possible, if I was going to train myself as hard as Hiko-san trained me then I would need all of the rest I could get. I checked the clock to see that I had been thinking aimlessly for about ten minutes. I stood up and walked over to the balcony, I tried to take a smell of the fresh air only to find the nose plugs still in my nose. I laughed as I pulled them out and then took another breath. The air here smelt so good, so fresh, so clean, just like the air at...

No, that part of me is over, I need to stop thinking about it...

I began looking around and saw Keitaro walking around the grounds, then I saw Shinobu walk up to him with a book of sorts in her hands. They walked over to a bench and Keitaro began flipping through the pages, I couldn't quite tell what the book was about, but my best guess would be that it is a questions book. I continued watching as Keitaro finished with the book and handed it bck to Shinobu. I watched them converse for a while and then Naru walked up to him, with a book of her own in her hands.

I watched as Keitaro opened the first page of the book, close it, and then throw it back to Naru. And I watched as Naru and Shinobu gained a shocked expression and Keitaro just face vaulted into the ground. I then watched as Keitaro was taken by the hand by Shinobu and lead off to some place, I was only able to see them for a few seconds before they disappeared from m sight. I walked back into the room and laid down on the futon and closed my eyes, just to rest them for a while.

I was snapped out of my almost rest when I heard someone opening the door. I looked up and saw Keitaro walking in, sighing slightly.

"So how did the trip to the restroom go?" I said in a amused tone.

"(Sigh) Well after I used the restroom I walked around and I met up with the junior high girl, Shinobu. I helped her with her work, and then she gave me a cookie.. it was good on a side-note." He said making me laugh slightly. "After that Naru gave me a Tokyo U study guide..." He said lowering his head.

"How'd you do?" I said in a questioning tone. Then Keitaro looked up with a amused look on his face.

"I got the first four questions absolutely right." He said happily.

"Great job!" I said with a joyous tone.

"Yeah... then Shinobu started calling me sempai, showed me her private spot in Hinata Sou, then I... lied aout being Tokyo U student again... this is getting... pretty bad." Keitaro said as he sat down in front of the desk.

"Listen, if we get you into Tokyo U this year, before they find out then it won't be lieing Keitaro-san." I said as I sensed a new Ki signature coming down the halls.

"Yeah but... what can a person do at a time like this..." Keitaro said as he sunk his head. "I mean the truth is..." Keitaro began saying as I began waving my hands and shaking my head 'no', if he keeps on talking then we're going to be busted!" I'm no Todai student at all... I can barely do these problems..." He said as he sunk his head even lower.

'Oh no...' I thought as I eyed the door leading to the hall, the ki signature had leaned up against the side of it to listen in. This was bad, whoever heard us could now use this information to their advantage, if they wished it they could have us do whatever they wanted... I motion Keitaro to look at me and then mouthed out "Someone is at the door and they heard you".

Keitaro looked at me with a worried expression and then mouthed out. "Are you sure?" I nodded yes and then he sighed and mouthed out. "What are we going to do?" I thought for a second and then mouthed out.

"Nothing, just don't let them know we know." I mouthed as Keitaro nodded and continued.

"But still Keitaro-san, either way we go now, we can't let them find out." I said as Keitaro lifted his head up.

"Yeah!" He said with a determined look on his face. "I won't be this lucky again, and as a Todai student I need to be able to solve all of the problems!" Keitaro said as he rolled up his sleeves. "Alright! I'll start with the study guide they left behind! Let's see..." Keitaro said as he looked at the first question. "Uh... I'll start with the next one..." Keitaro said as I stood up and sat beside him.

"No, I'll help you." I said as I sat beside him.

"Seriously?" Keitaro said as he stared at me.

"I told you I was home schooled, I can probably help you out." I said also rolling up my sleeves.

Keitaro stared at me for a few more minutes before smiling. "Alright then!" Keitaro said as we both began jumping into the study guide as if it held the answers to the meaning of life. All through the nigh we began studying. At about 3:00 in the morning we were done. "Alright we're finished..." Keitaro said as he began nodding off. "I'll just tally up the score in the morning..." He said as he yawned. I was tired as well, but then I realized that it was time for me to begin my training. If I did it in the state I am know I would collapse... So I reached into a pocket in my robe and pulled out a plastic bag full of herbs. "What are those?" Keitaro said as I pulled out a thick stick and a cup.

"These are herbs that my father uses for a super Sake he invented." I said as I finished grinding up the herbs. Then I went through my robe again and found a small container of alchohol (Kenshin has a lot of stuff in his robes doesn't he?). "It gives the drinker tons of energy, but also loosens them up if they're stiff." I said as I walked out, went into a bathroom, got some hot water running, and allowed some into the cup. Then I walked back into our room and began mixing it all together.

"Hey I heard of a tea in China that could do that." Keitaro said as he looked at me mixing the herbs, and the alchohol into the cup.

"Yes, in fact this Sake is actually based off of that tea." I said as I finshed stirring up and drank it all down in one gulp. For a few minutes nothing happened... then my eyes snapped open, the dark circles underneath them disappeared, and I just stood up. "Now then if you don't mind I gotta go train before this stuff eventually wears off." I said as I went out the door.

"Okay see ya later." Keitaro said as he undressed, got into his sleeping clothes, and got into a futon and fell asleep.

I quickly walked through the halls, down the stairs, and then out the door. I took a deep breath and then began running down the steps, out onto the streets, and began running a lap around the town. I saw many shops around town, a ramen shop, a tailor, good, and a martial arts dojo, I stopped to check the sign which read;

"Sorry, we are closed today." I shrugged as I continued running my lap. I returned to Hinata Sou about a half-hour later. When I arrived I went up to the annex, and began doing various other exercises. I had to do them if I were going to gain any muscle on my bones. So I began doing lots of push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, after a while I began hanging on the edge of the annex and began doing chin-ups. After a hour and a half later I was done doing my Sake powered exercises and began practicing with my sword. About fifteen minutes after that I heard the door to the annex open and Motoko walked out of it. We both stared at each other for a few minutes before Motoko spoke.

"I didn't think someone like you would practice this early as well." Motoko said as she closed the door.

"What can I say, I might not be able to do it later, since I have to earn some money for a train ticket." I said as I swung my sword again.

Motoko stared at me for a few minutes before speaking. "So, why do you travel?" Motoko said as I stopped.

"What do you mean?" I said as I continued swinging.

"Don't you have to be somewhere? Or do something other than traveling." Motoko said as I continued swinging.

I stopped momentarily before starting again. "Motoko-san, I am a rurouni, that I am. I travel wherever the wind takes me, doing whatever I can to survive... but.. I also have a greater purpose for my travels..." I said as I sliced the air again.

"May I ask what this 'greater purpose' is.." She said as I stopped once again.

"... Motoko... I hope you don't mind if I don't tell you..." I said as I took another swing. Motoko at first appeared insulted, but after a while her expression went back to its deadpan look.

"So other than that you just travel to travel?" Motoko asked as I stopped for a third time.

"I suppose you could say that." I said as I continued my swings. "I guess it gives me a sense of freedom." I said, picking up the pace on my swings.

"Freedom?" Motoko said as she lifted her head up.

"Yes, the freedom of knowing that no matter what you are free to chase your passions, free to go where ever you feel like going... free to be.. free I guess." I said as I began stabbing the air in front of me.

"Free.. to be free..." Motoko muttered as she began walking back to the door. "Rurouni!" She said catching my attention. "I hope that your travels bring you good fortune. And that you can achieve your greater purpose" Motoko said as she left the annex.

I smiled at the door that Motoko left through as I continued stabbing the air... For some reason I couldn't help but feel that there was something else underneath what she said. I knew that she meant what she said as she left, but I also couldn't help but feel there was something underneath it... I help but feel that there was an envy of my freedom to choose my destiny, or a longing for it.. but I could tell... she wanted that kind of freedom. I shook those thoughts off as I put my sword back into my hilt as I began practicing Batto-jutsus.

As the sun rose over the horizen I could feel the Sake begin to where off. I needed to do three things before going to sleep. Take a bath, eat, and get to my futon before collapsing of exhaustion. I heard Shinobu begin to call everyone for breakfast as my stomach growled rather loudly. I began walking down the seemingly endless flights of stairs to the bottom floor, I walked into the kitchen to the best smelling food I thought I would ever smell.

"Good morning everyone." I said as I tried to smile.

"Good morning Ken-AHHHH!!!" Shinobu and everyone else practically screamed when they looked at me.

"What?" I asked while yawning.

"What? What!? Just take a look at yourself!" Naru said pointing to a mirror. I walked over to the mirror and I nearly jumped out of my skin at what I saw. What good old dad said was true, when the Sake wears off you will look terrible. The bags under my eyes were now suitcases, I had sweat covering practically every inch, and it also was in my hair. I was almost brown from all of the grime that had accumulated on my body.

I laughed before turning to face everyone. "I'm sorry everyone, you see I culdn't sleep last night and then I got up at 3:00 in the morning to train..." I said making Motoko practically choke on her food.

'THREE IN THE MORNING!!!' She thought as she stared at me.

"All I need is some food, a bath, and some good sleep." I said as I sat down.

"I'd say, I mean usually Motoko is the worst looking one here at the table during breakfast but you broke that record." Kitsune said making almost everyone, except for me and Motoko laugh, me cause I was too tired to laugh, and Motoko cause she was the butt of the joke.

Shinobu placed the food in front of us as I took another wiff. I began digging into the food as if I were a fat guy who was hanging over an all-you-can-eat buffet for three hours. I was done so fast, that even Su stared at me as if I were some freak.

"Wow, and I thought Su was the fast eater... you're just breaking all kinds of records around here..." Naru said as she stared at me, along with everyone else.

"Sorry I'm just hungry... anyway I'll be taking a bath now. Thanks for the food Shinobu, it was the best food I've ever had." I said making Shinobu blush.

"I-I'm sure it wasn't all that great..." Shinobu said as she pushed her fingers together.

"No really Shinobu this was a great meal. I can appreciate being humble, but you got to give yourself some credit Shinobu, that you do." I said making Shinobu smile lightly.

"Th-thank you... Kenshin-kun." Shinobu said bowing slightly. I bowed as well as I walked down the hall.

I walked down the hall and into the locker room. I took off all of my clothes, and I noticed a small dirty laundry basket. I put moat of my clothes in the basket, afterall I needed to wear something on the way to the laundry room, and then walked into the hot springs, and literally lept into one of the pools of water. I moaned as I bathed in the warm, soothing water. I dunked several buckets of water over my head to get the sweat out of it. After I was done cleaning myself, I just soaked my body in the water... it felt so good... I could just...

I shook myself to keep myself awake. I was about to fall asleep inside the water. I tried to get out of the water when I heard an 'eep' sound coming from the opposite end of the pool. I looked over and saw Naru bathing there!

"NARU-SAN!!!" I said as I lowered myself into the water to hide myself. "I-I thought I told everyone that I was taking a bath." I said, a blush rising on my face.

"THAT WAS LIKE A COUPLE HOURS AGO!!!!" Naru shouted as I raised my hands out of the water... they were very wrinkled.

"Oh... I must have fallen asleep in here..." I said out loud as I sank even deeper underwater.

"WELL GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" Naru shouted hiding herself also deeper underwater.

"Oh yes! So sorry!!!" I shouted as I sped out of the hot springs.

"God, today is going to be worse than yesterday by the looks of it." Naru said as she sat in the water.

I quickly walked out of the locker room in my white under clothes that I normally wore under my robes, with the actual robes bundled up in my arms as I heard the sound of laughter nearby. I looked to my right to see Kitsune standing there laughing her ass off at me.

"Ha! That's payback for yesterday!" Kitsune said as she began running down the halls.

I stood there, a giant sweatdrop forming on the back of my head as I walked down the halls to the laundry room. I threw in my robes, and the top of my white under robes, only leaving the lower half of it left, into the washing machine. I turned it on and then went back up to Keitaro's and my room, and I found Keitaro at his desk with the guide we worked on last night/this morning.

"Hey Kenshin-san." Keitaro said as he turned his attention back to his guide.

I smiled as I layed down in my futon and began drifting off until...

"Wake up." I heard a bored voice say as I was kicked in the ribs.

"Ow!" I said as I saw Haruka standing over me.

"Wake up, time for you to work." Haruka said as I moaned.

"Can't I do it later, I had a rough night and I haven't gotten any sleep." I moaned as I yawned.

"That's your problem not mine, now come on." She said as I groaned and followed her.

She put me to work immediately, fixing the entire hallway Su and I destroyed yesterday, the door and lock to the annex, cleaning the springs, fixing Motoko's and Kitsune's room ,my white under cloth nearly went up in flames when some embers got on it, and other chores left undone. After several hours I stood, barely, in front of Haruka, panting deeply.

"Well here's your pay Kenshin." Haruka said as she through a envelope at me. I opened it and saw that there was a TON of yen in it.

"Ther-there's so much money here." I panted out as I saw it.

"Yeah, it's for all the work you did, if I payed you any less I could be sued." Haruka said as she took a drag of her cigarette, muttering something about child labor laws.

"Yeah but... it's more than enough to pay for a train ticket to Kyoto..." I said as I counted the money.

" I guess you can leave tomorrow then." Haruka said as she left. And as she left I began to become sad. I only stayed here for two days, and now I was going to leave... I sighed as I tried to walk to my room... when I say try I mean that I fell flat on my face after taking one step, and had to crawl the rest of the way. As I made it to the room I saw Keitaro finishing up his grading.

"Hey Kenshin-san, you won't believe this, my average for all the papers were between 55 and 67!" He shouted as he held up his papers.

"Congratulations Keitaro..." I groaned out, they really didn't sound all that great to me.

"I couldn't have done it without you, I mean my averages used to be in the 10 percentiles!" He said smiling.

'Okay maybe they were good...' I thought as I laid there/

"No problem..." I groaned as I crawled into the futon. And as I was about to fall asleep...

"Here, these are for you two." Naru said as she put down a plate with three glasses, a pot of tea, and a lot of deformed rice balls. Then Naru and Keitaro heard the sound something crawling on the ground as I made my way to the table. "You know you could just sleep if you wanted..." Naru said looking at me with worry evident in her voice.

"No, no. It would be very rude of me to turn down such kindness Naru-san." I said as I began pouring some tea.

Keitaro looked at the rice balls with a bit of a displeasured look on his face. "Are these rice balls? They're different from the ones Shinobu made for lunch..." Keitaro said as he stared at them.

"Oh I missed lunch..." I said in a bored tone as my face, was flat on the table as I used my hand to feel around, and when I found a rice ball I brought it over to my mouth and took a giant bite out of it...

"DEAR GOD THIS IS AMAZING!" I shouted as my head sprang off the table and I took another bite, then I felt something other than rice in my mouth and I pulled it out. "The pot lid?" I said to myself as I shrugged and continued eating the rice balls from Heaven.

"Wow he's right these are delicious!" Keitaro said as Naru blushed.

"Thank you both..." She said as she looked at me. "Oh and don't worry, I know it was a trick made by Kitsune... but if it happens again..." She said as she grabbed a rice ball and crushed it.

I shuddered as I drank some tea, which was also delicious. "Oh yeah, I heard some people say that there was a delicious lobster special in the Todai cafeteria... have you had any?" Naru said to Keitaro. I could tell Naru was lieing by her aura... she must've been the one outside of our room last night.

"Oh... oh yeah! That's my favorite, lunch just doesn't feel right without it." Keitaro said in a shaking tone while drinking some tea.

"Liar, no such thing exist." Naru said making Keitaro spit his tea out.

"You go around telling people you're a Todai student! In reality you've failed the test twice! And on those tests you got an average of 48, or less, points! And on top of that, you're a "runaway" with no money left!!!" Naru shouted as little arrows began piercing Keitaro in the chest. "And you!" She shouted pointing to me. "You knew about this all along!!!" She shouted as I drank my tea.

"Anything else? I said in a bored tone.

"...No, actually that's the only thing you lied about, other than that you have a clean slate." Naru said.. as her face took a look of anger again. "But I'm telling you both!" She shouted as all of a sudden we were both strapped to a cross, this time my face matched Keitaro's, a look of pure terror. "There's no way we can forgive liars like you! You should be taken to Hell and have your tongues taken out!!!" Naru shouted as Keitaro and I began spazing out.

"I-I-I'm sorry!!! I'm sorry!!! I'm really sorry!!! I didn't lie to you guys on purpose!!!" We both shouted as Naru began laughing.

"There is no way... there is no way guys like you two can fool us all you idiots. I was joking, only joking." She said as she stopped laughing. "I'll let you both go this time." Naru said as she plucked Keitaro's glasses off his face.

"But why?" Keitaro said as he strained his eyes.

"Yes, why indeed?" I said as I watched her.

"You two.. Shinobu was really happy when you told her effort is what really counts, and that she should give herself some credit for all of the good things she does..." She said as she walked over to the balcony. "She was really down, because of you two she's really becoming herself again... and this place has never been more alive..." She said as she leaned against the railway. "Keitaro, if you make it into Todai this year, then you won't be lieing, and neither will you be Kenshin." She said as she looked out over the city. She turned around, took off Keitaro's glasses and looked at us. "The effort is all that matters. So don't give up and keep trying!!" She said as Keitaro blushed. "Hehe... You're pretty cute without your glasses." She said making Keitaro blush a ton.

"Ah... ha.. well..." Keitaro said, unable to speak at the moment.

Naru then walked over to the desk Keitaro worked at and picked up the study guide. "Is this yours?" Naru asked Keitaro.

"Yeah why!?" Keitaro said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Not bad, if you keep this up you may get into Todai." She said as Keitaro smiled.

"Yeah, but Kenshin-san helped me." Keitaro said as Naru shot me a questioning look.

"I'm home schooled by my dad." I said as Naru went 'Oh' and left it at that.

"By the way, could I have my glasses back." Keitaro asked with a light smile.

"Oh yeah sure." Naru said as she walked over to Keitaro. I watched in slow motion as Naru tripped over something on the ground and fell on top of Keitaro, and both of them ending up in an awkward position. I watched with wide-eyes as they stuttered like idiots as they began getting closer... the ki they both are giving off... for them both to do this, only after knowing each other for a day... this ki... is it love?!?!? I sat there puzzled over their ki as they continued getting closer. I almost didn't feel the other ki signatures approaching the... OTHER KI SIGNATURES?!?!!? At that moment I was glad I only had the lower half of my outfit on as I ran to the door as it opened and only stuck the upper half of my body out.

"Don't come in I'm naked!!!" I shouted as they immediately slammed the door shut. I sighed as I turned around to see Keitaro and Naru, just staring at me. "I'm sorry but that was the only way I could keep them out, don't mind me you two keep doing what you were. Hehehe." I said snickering as Naru and Keitaro realized the position they were in and they shot up, took three steps away from each other, and blushed like mad.

I began laughing at the two before I began holding my head with my right hand. "You know what, all of a sudden I don't feel so good..." I said as I fell to my knees, and then fell to the floor as Naru, Keitaro, and the other tenants ran in as I passed out...

I began to awaken to the sound and smell of someone smoking a cigarette. I strained to open my eyes as I saw the light coming from the balcony. I sat up and stretched as I took in my surroundings.

"So you're finally awake huh?" I heard a bored voice say as I looked to see Haruka say. "About time to, the guests were worried about you. When you passed out they brought me up here to check on ya. You only passed out from exhaustion so I told them after a good night's sleep you should be good as new." She said taking a drag of her cigarette. I looked around the room for a sign of Keitaro's things, but they were nowhere in sight.

"Where's Keitaro-san's things?" I asked as Haruka sighed.

"Unfortunely while we were taking care of you, Su found a Student ID showing that Keitaro was not a Tokyo U student. So he left sometime this morning, the girls saw him off though..." She said as we heard a fax machine begin going off. "Hold on..." She said as she walked over to the fax machine that I had neglected to notice, afterall I had never seen one before. "Wow... I gotta get this to Keitaro." Haruka said as she began walking out.

"What's wrong?" I asked, though I knew what was next.

"Grandma Hina has given the dormitory to Keitaro, he's going to be the new manager." Haruka said as she walked out the door. I smiled lightly as I got up and made my way over to the rack where my sword was and picked it up. I also grabbed my new pouch filled with money and walked downstairs to the laundry room. I pulled out my clothes, they must've dried out over night, and put them on. I made my way to the front to see all of the others coming in. They looked at me as I approached them.

"What are you doing?" Kitsune said as I walked in front of them.

"Yesterday Haruka got me on a series of jobs that gave me enough money to leave for Kyoto." I said with an apologetic tone, though I had a smile on my face.

"B-but Kenshin-san, why do you have to go?" Shinobu said with slight amounts of tears in her eyes.

"Yeah you're so fun! Please don't leave!!!" Su shouted from her position from Motoko's shoulders. Motoko simply looked me in the eye and I nodded at her silent message.

"I'm sorry, but I've got to leave...I have something I have to do... for myself..." I said as I began walking till Keitaro stood in front of me.

"Kenshin-san I, Keitaro Urashima, manager of Hinata Sou, would like to offer you the job of grounds keeper so that this place can make this place your home!" Keitaro said making Su and Shinobu smile, Naru and Kitsune gasp slightly, and suprisingly Motoko grin, even just a little. I looked Keitaro in the eye as I walked past him to the open door. Nobody turned to watch me go as they heard the sound of a door closing, and they sighed.

"You know..." I said as they all turned around. "that you'll have to put up with me being around." I said walking towards them a small smile on my face.

"No problem! You're fun!!!" Su said happily.

"You'll also have to take care of some extra laundry and food." I said scratching the back of my head sheepishly.

"I'd be glad to Kenshin-kun!" Shinobu said blushing lightly.

"You'll have some competition around from now on." I said, talking more to Motoko than anyone.

"Heh. I could use a good sparring partner." Motoko said solidly.

"You'll have to put up with always having to ask for a second opinion." I said, aiming this one for Keitaro.

"Hey, I'm not that great of a decision maker anyway." He said sheepishly.

Then I faced Naru and Kitsune. "We may end up in more embarrassing situations." I said making them both blush, but then they grinned.

"Well if that happens then we can just..." They said at once.

BOOM

They hit me in the face with two punches as I fell to the floor out cold. "Oh my God sorry I didn't mean to hit you!" Kitsune and Naru said at once as everyone ran to my side.

General POV

Then we see Haruka outside smoking a cigarette. "Well Kenshin Himura, welcome to Hinata Sou, hope you enjoy yourself..." She said to herslef as she took another drag of her cigarette.

Alright chapter done! Now then onto a poll...

Who should Kenshin be paired up with;

Kitsune-

Mutsumi-

Motoko-

Su-

Shinobu-

Kanako-

Sarah-

Nyamo-

VOTE NOW!!!!!!!!!! And don't be sure to review!!!!!!


	3. The Plot Thinkens, Kitsune Schemes!

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper Well now, this story gaining some momentum, so let us keep on rolling!

And now enjoy the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper.

Chapter 3: The Plot Thickens! Kitsune's Schemes!

Kenshin POV

I found myself in an empty white room, no one else was here in the room, I was... alone. I walked around the room a bit until the room seemed to begin to move around. As I stood there, colors, shapes, and things began filling the room, my head spinning rapidly as I watched. As the spinning ceased I looked around the room, and was amazed at what I saw. In one half of the room, I saw that night, the night in the orphanage. I saw Enishi standing over a six-year old version of myself, the scene frozen at the time where I just watched him.

Then I looked at the other side of the room and saw a completely different picture. I saw the courtyard of Hinata Sou, with Hinata Sou in the background. I saw Keitaro, Naru, Kitsune, Motoko, Su, Shinobu, and Haruka all lined up in the front yard. They all stood there, smiling, some smirking, at me, they too frozen in time. I smiled at this serene scene, and I was happy with the fact I had a new home. But then I heard laughter, the kind of laughter you hear from a mad man... the laughter that haunted many of my nightmares.

"Such a joyous scene." I heard from the other side as I saw Enishi, slowly but surely begin to move. "It almost brings a tear to my eye." He said as he began moving to the Hinata Sou side of the room. "It is a shame that..." He began saying as he drew his sword. "That it must end." He said as he sped towards the tenants of Hinata Sou and with one slash... everything went back to the orphange. I saw the bodies of my current family blocking the door, I saw Enishi standing before me with his sword in his right hand.

I reached for my sword, only to find it not there. He picked me up by the collar wit his left hand, I tried to strike him, but it was not my fist that hit his face, but a smaller one. I looked at myself to find I had been reduced to my six-year old self. Enishi began laughing as he brought his sword to my left cheek. "Now this is the form that suits you boy." He said as he cut my left cheek, and blood began literally pouring out of the cut. "Weak, helpless, and alone." He said as he dropped me, and I began falling down a never-ending black tunnel.

Hinata Sou

My head was spinning violently as I tried to force myself awake. My eyes shot open as I reached for my sword that wasn't there. I panicked as I checked my body to find that I was still fifteen. I looked around the room to see that I was in Hinata Sou. I sighed as the memories of this morning filled my mind, warding off the nightmare I had just experienced.. I sat up in the futon I was in as Keitaro walked into our room, as he saw me awake he began smiling.

"You're awake, great! You know these past couple days haven't been all that great for you when it comes to staying awake eh?" Keitaro said as he brought a plate of food and tea over. "You missed breakfast, after Naru and Kitsune knocked you out cold, I'm not suprised, you've been out for about two hours." He said as he layed the tray of food down beside my bed. "Anyway I'm glad you decided to stay, I could use your help around here, and you really helped me study, in fact if you kept on helping me I could really make it this year." He said happily. "So... I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm glad you decided to stay Kenshin-san." Keitaro said while smiling.

"As am I Keitaro-sama." I said as I took a bite of some egg on the tray.

"Sama?" Keitaro said while looking confused.

"Yes, now that you've hired me and taken me into your home I am no longer a rurouni, but I am now a samurai, under you control. So I must call you sama." I said smiling while taking a sip of tea.

"Well, you don't really have to I mean it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable being called by such a respectable title." Keitaro said while rubbing the back of his head. I knew that I oculd blow this out of proportion as a joke, but after what I just dreamt, I was not in much a mood for a joke.

"Alright Kenshin-san, if that is what you wish." I said while taking a bite of the breakfast I had missed, and after I had, I started feeling a little better.

"Anyway, you said you had some money now so what are you going to do with it?" Keitaro asked, trying to make some small talk.

"Well (gulp) I'm not sure." I said as I finished the meal. "There's enough there to get me a train ticket, but other than that..." I said as I remembered my current situation. "I guess I'll be needing it to by some clothes." I said as I sat up out of my futon and went over to where I saw my sword and my pouch filled with money.

"Well there is this shop in..." Keitaro said as I began opened the door with my free hand.

"Yes I know, I encountered it while going through my morning run yesterday morning. I'll be back in time for lunch that I will." I said as I closed the door and made my way down the stairs and through the halls to the front courtyard of Hinata Sou. I took a deep breath of fresh air and then made my way down the almost endless flights of stairs leading down to the streets. I walked throught the streets of the city, and I noticed how busy they could be. Whenever I was up in the morning the streets were empty, but now they were filled with hussle. I smiled as I finally reached the tailor's shop and walked in.

The tailor shop, though small, held quite a few things in it. There were stand up dummies for not only showing outfits but for making outfits on, there were racks of materials, and clothes as well. I looked around and noticed that there was still a lot of room left in the store. I approached the counter and rang the bell and a man with measuring tape hung over his shoulder, and a needle between his teeth came out of the back room and walked up to the front desk.

He was a middle-aged man with thinning grey hair. He wore glasses with square lens, and a hat with a plastic visor, wierd accessory really. Most of his other clothes were basically what you would commonly see around Japan these days, jeans, a t-shirt, but on top of that the man wore a black sweater-vest... this was an odd, old man. "There something you need?" He asked snapping me out of my thoughts and back to the situation at hand.

"Yes, I would like about nine copies of this outfit made." I said as he raised his eyebrow. "Alright then, if you would please take your clothes off in that changing area over there so I can check the stitching for the clothes, and then measure you for them." He said pointing to a small door on the side of the room. I nodded and walked into the rather cramped changing area and took off my clothes, save for my underwear hiding my privates, and then walked back out. "Go into the back room and wait for me." He said as I nodded in compliance and went back into the room.

I waited for several minutes before the man came in, stretching out his measuring tape. "Please stretch out your arms and stand straight." He said as I did as he said. After a while of him measuring places on my body, and several more minutes of awkward silence, I broke the silence.

"So the store is pretty empty huh?" I asked as he snapped the tape against my thigh. "OUCH!" I said as I stood there.

"That's what you get for being wise ass." He said as he continued measuring me. "And yeah, with all of the clothing stores that are practically everywhere now there is no longer any needfor tailor shops." He said as he continued measuring."So then why don't you go into a different buisness?" I asked as he looked up and then looked down."Well... this is really the only thing I'm qualified for..." He said as I raised my eyebrows

"What do you mean 'only qualified for'?" I asked as he sighed.

"Well you see, I was convicted on a DUI so I couldn't have any careers that had to do with driving." He said as I raised my eyebrows, interested. "Then I got drunk and beat my wife, so I couldn't go into any career with weapons in it, hell I'm barely allowed to hold this piece of measuring tape." He said as I watched with a bewildered expression as he continued. "Then I got drunk and I molested some school kids, so I couldn't go into any career with kids in it." He said as I began regreting leaving my sword back at Hinata Sou.

"So why do you keep on getting drunk!?!" I almost screamed as his face suddenly twisted into a scowl.

"Because some bastard named Hiko Seijuro keeps on making this amazing Sake that I can't stop drinking!" He shouted as I suddenly felt a sense of doom wash over me. "I swear if I ever find him, his friends, anyone who knows him, his family, or his kids, I'll..." He said as he began tighting his grip on the measuring tape as I almost soiled myself right on the spot.

"Heh... heh... I-I-I-I-I-I don't b-blame y-you." I stammered out as he finished.

"Alright, I got your measurements and I should be done in about ten days." He said as he looked up only to see a dust cloud in my shape. He ran to the other room as he saw the door fly open and shut. "Hey!!!" He shouted. I ran through the streets, trying to get away from that guy as soon as possible... but I felt like something was wrong...

"HEY YOU PUT SOME PANTS ON MAN!!!" I heard some guy say as I looked down. I blushed as I covered my privates that were only concealed by a pair of underwear. And as fast as I ran out, I ran back into the tailor shop where the guy had my clothes.

"Forget these?" He asked as I nodded, took the clothes, ran into the dressing room, got dressed, and then ran all the way back to Hinata Sou, not sure if I would be able to handle the embarassing events of today. I entered Hinata Sou and I looked around. I looked around as I heard the sound of Shinobu calling everyone in for lunch. I looked at the clock as I saw it was 11:00, I grinned as I had made it back exactly in time for lunch. I walked into the dinning/kitchen room where everyone else was slowly but surely filling it too. I saw Shinobu by the stove, finishing up lunch.

"Hello everyone." I said as I took a seat.

"Hello Kenshin-kun!" Shinobu shouted from the stove.

"Hello Shinobu-chan, smells delicious." I said as Shinobu blushed.

"Thank you Ke-Kenshin-kun..." Shinobu said as she continued cooking.

"Hello Kenshin-kun!!!" Su shouted as she kicked me in the face knocking me out of the chair. I sat on the floor, rubbing my jaw as Su stood above me laughing. "Nice to see you're awake again, how did ya like my greeting!?" Su shouted as she sat down.

"Hello Su-chan, good to see you too. And that greeting was... pretty different." I said as I stood up, and sat down in my chair again.

"Hello Kenshin-san." Motoko said sounding as plain as usual.

"Hello Motoko-san, nice to see you this morning." I said as Motoko nodded and sat down.

"Hello Kensshhhin-shhhan." Kitsune said as she stummbled down the stairs, apparently drunk.

"Hello Kitsune-san... have you been drinking since this morning..." I said as she just waved it off and sat down.

"Hello Kenshin-san." Naru said as she came down the stairs and sat down.

"Hello Naru-san, and don't worry it doesn't hurt anymore." I said as I rubbed my jaw and Naru nodded her head,

"Hello everyone!" Keitaro shouted as Motoko said nothing, Shinobu kept to her cooking, Su kicked him in the head, Kitsune just flat out ignored him because of her hangover, and Naru greeted him back.

"Hello Keitaro-san, thank you for bringing up my breakfast this morning, I never did thank you for it." I said as he walked around the table.

"No problem at all." Keitaro said as he sat beside me.

"Okay everyone here's lunch." Shinobu said as she passed the food around. Keitaro and I began eating heartily as everyone ate. I didn't eat as fast as Su today since I wasn't nearly as starved. I looked around and saw that most of the girls were exchanging glances with one and other, it was strange but I just waved it off as some girl thing. Su finished first and ran up stairs, saying something about a new invention. Motoko went next, saying that she went to train on the roof. Next was Shinobu saying that she was going to do the laundry, but going the wrong way to the laundry room. Kitsune and Naru left next, telling us to finish the dishes. I put my chopsticks down as I stood up, and gathered half of the dishes, while Keitaro got half of the others. We went over to the sink and began washing them.

"So Keitaro-san, you want some more help with your studies?" I asked as Keitaro nodded.

"Yeah, I would like that." Keitaro said as I smiled.

"Alright then, I'll help you out whenever I am able, that I will." I said as we finished up the dishes.

I decided to take a dip in the hot springs, after that encounter with the tailor... I felt really dirty for some reason. I walked into the locker room and undressed, and then walked into the hot springs. I lounged in the tub and relaxed for a little while until I heard the sounds of talking above me. I looked up and behind me to see the room in the floor above filled with every member of Hinata Sou. I raised my eyebrows as my curiousity got the best of me. I lowered my ki levels, and then jumped up and grabbed onto the ledge of the window to the room. I began listening in to their conversation.

"Alright then everyone, thank you for showing up." I heard Kitsune say without her drunken slur.

'Her slur, its gone... was she faking it?' I said as I got closer to the window.

"Now then, the reason we are here. Keitaro Urashima and Kenshin Himura, what are they doing here in a girl's dormitory? These meetings are to help decide whether or not to let them stay or to kick them out." Kitsune said as a lot of murmers began rising from inside the room. "Now some of you may be startled by this, but we, Naru and I..." Kitusne began saying.

"Hey don't drag me into this!" Naru shouted as Kitsune waved it off.

"Have collected a lot of evidence to support kicking them out." Kitsune said as the murmers died out and silence overtook the room. "Now then for the first and most obvious piece of evidence, they are thieves." Kitsune said as Motoko raised her hand. "Yes Motoko?" Kitsune said as Motoko cleared her throat.

"I thought that we had dispelled the thoughts that they were theives." Motoko said as everyone murmered in agreement.

"True Motoko, but don't forget both had lied to us before..." Kitsune said before Shinobu interupted.

"When did Kenshin-kun lie to us?" Shinobu said in a very small voice.

"Well I got that little piece from Naru." Kitsune said as this time Motoko interupted.

"And by got it, you mean got her insanely drunk, so much so that she told you everything she knew." Motoko said as Kitsune nodded, and she and everyone else sighed.

"According to Naru that ever since the first moment Keitaro started lieing about Tokyo U, even before that, Kenshin knew about it being a lie." Kitsune said as murmers resonated through the room again. "Now then, the contributing piece of evidence to Kenshin being a theif is actually quite simple. Kenshin being a rurouni there is no way he could've always had money in order to surviveon his own, being a kid in all. There is no way in hell he could have had no money for another hotel, with as good of a sword, as good of a robe he has." Kitsune said as murmers racked the room again and this time Su raised her hand. "Yes Su?" Kitsune said, shocked about Su having a question.

"Well... isn't it possible he got all that stuff before he became a rurouni? I mean it is possible that he obtained that stuff before he no longer had a constant money source." Su said as everyone in the room, and even myself, we were stunned by her thinking.

"Su... I didn't know you were so... intuitive..." Naru said as everyone nodded in agreement.

"Oh you're making me blush!" Su said as she went back to her hyperactive self.

'What Su was saying was partly true, I had obtained all of those things before I had a become a rurouni, but I still have my constant money source, Hiko. But I don't like calling Hiko up for that kind of thing, I left to be a rurouni cause Hiko said that 'On my journey as a rurouni I would find all of the things I was looking for'. But I want to find all of these things on my own, without his help...' I thought as I continued listening to the meeting.

"Well Su I suppose that may be a possibility, but it's unlikely cause the robe he wears and the sword look like new." Kitsune said as I sat outside of the door.

'That's cause I actually took good care of that stuff...' I thought as I continued listening.

"Now then, the next piece of evidence against both of them that most of us know, Kenshin may be a pervert." Kitsune said causing a bunch of murmers in the room. Motoko raised her hand and Kitsune nodded in her direction.

"We all already know about the... event between you two, that's nothing." Motoko said calmly.

"Yes.. but there was another 'event' as you call it." Kitsune said as everyone in the room began paying attention to her, except for Naru who was sighing a 'Oh my God I can't believe she's going to tell them' sigh/groan. "You see yesterday when Kenshin was taking a bath, he was in there for a long period of time, long enough for Naru to walk in, naked, and sit just a few feet from him, she saw him, screamed, and he ran out." Kitsune said as a collective amount of gasps went through the room.

"Kitsune, first off you told me he wasn't in there when you knew he was! Second he was asleep when I screamed, he was just sleeping!" Naru shouted as everyone stared at her.

"Or was he Naru?" Kitsune said in a conspirital tone. "Maybe he just faked looking like he was asleep so that when the next innocent girl walked in he could peep on her." Kitsune said drawing a gasp from everyone.

"Come to think of it, men are naturally dishonorable perverts, and he did say he was of fifteen years. Maybe his perversive nature is now coming into effect." Motoko said gathering gasps from Shinobu and Su as I sat outside, with a giant sweatdrop on the back of my head.

"I thought that I would be given more credit than that... oh no!" I muttered under my breath as I soon realized my mistake.

"What was that?!" Kitsune said as she began walking to the window. I was incredibly nervous as I hung there, I decided I had no other choice and I let go of the ledge and then dropped into the water below. Kitsune peeked out of the window and looked down, seeing only myself in the water, bathing. "Ah, it was just Himura, he's just bathing in the springs." Kitsune said as she closed the window and I jumped right back up there and grabbed onto the ledge again.

"Now then, where were we... oh yes, Kenshin being a pervert." Kitsune said as everyone got back on subject. "I believe that if he stays much longer who knows what he'll start doing." Kitsune said as she slammed her hand on the table. "And the same goes for that other Sake thief, Keitaro, he lied to us before, he may do it again! And like Motoko said men are naturally perverts so he may try something funny!" She said as a collective sound of 'Yeah!' went through the room.

"And Kenshin is also a danger to the property of Hinata Sou! You saw what he did to Motoko's room and my room, even if he fixed it, he destoryed it!" She shouted everyone, almost everyone, nodded with her. "So now I think we should come up with a plan to get rid of them!" Kitsune shouted as everyone, but Naru, shouted in agreement. "Now then, we'll continue meetings like this for about nine days after today, we need to come up with some plans." She said as everyone agreed. "Now then dismissed." Kitsune said as everyone left the room. By the time the meeting was over, I was back in the locker room, dressed and running back to mine and Keitaro's room.

I ran into the room, closed the door behind me and then place my back against it and sighed. I had barely got away from the door in time to keep them from seeing me. So in ten days the process of making mine and Keitaro's life a living hell. Well till then I guess I would have to pass some time, training myself, making some minor repairs around the house. I guess I should try to patch some things up between the tenants and I so Keitaro and I won't have too many problems. I decided to start off with Su, thinking that perhaps she would be the easiest tenant to get on our side. So I began walking through the halls down to Su's room. When I approached the door I saw a vine sticking out of the door. I raised my eyebrows at the vine and knocked on the door.

"Su-chan, are you in there?" I asked as I recieved no answer. I opened the door and entered Su's room.

And to say I was suprised when I went into Su's room would be a major understatement. There a jungle in here! So many trees, and computers on the walls... computers... After I got over my suprise I pulled out my sword and began cutting throught the foliage. I cut my way through till I sensed a disturbance. I looked out the corner of my eye and smiled as I saw Su swinging on a vine in my direction, getting ready to kick me in the head.

"HIIIIIIII KENSHIN-KUN!!!!" Su shouted as she jumped from the vine and got ready to kick me. I let her, but only cause I knew it was her own special greeting. After I was done flying into a tree, I rubbed my jaw and smiled.

"Hello there Su-chan, how are you. You up to anything." I said as Su got a mischievious grin, but quickly hid it behind her hands and began giggling as she calmed down. "Nothing!" She shouted as she sprang up.

"Cool, so..." I said as I looked around the room. "I like what you did with the place." I said as I looked around.

"Yeah, I just wanted my home's jungles around so then I just decided to bring them here!" Su shouted as she lept onto my shoulders.

"Cool. So you're an inventor too?" I asked as she nodded. "What exactly do you invent?" I asked as she tapped her chin.

"Depends on what I feel like inventing... oh! I'm a bit of a writer too." Su shouted as she jumped off my shoulders, ran over to a bookcase and pulled a small folder and showed it to me.

"You wanna read my first story?" She said as I began chuckling.

"Yes, I would like to read it very much, that I would." I said as I opened the folder and began reading the only story in it so far.

The Angry Raptor and Dennis Noodles!

One day while I was peacefully watching TV in Hinata Sou, I heard this huge exploding sound going 'BOOM' in the back. I didn't invent anything today so I got up and ran outside to see what in the world it was. I looked around the yard but could not find the source of the sound. Then, I noticed something... there was an egg the size of the Hinata Sou rammed into the ground by our home -an egg I swear- an egg!!! I walked over to the amazing object. I was so amazed that I had to touch it to believe it, but when I did, something happened. The egg cracked and this gigantic raptor came out of it came out of it.

The raptor stared at me... frightened me - but finally spoke "Do you know a boy named Dennis Noodles?" I was so shocked, and interested at the same time by hearing him speak, that I couldn't even answer. He repeated himself, but I still couldn't answer. He said that I was an "idiot" and ran off into the... interstate I think they're called. I then heard about the very beginning of what turned out to be a one hundred car pile up.

Somewhere nearby, Dennis Noodles was on the toilet. Awkwardly enough, he was reading one of his mother's magazines Suddenly his house shuddered. He heard a load crack and then all of a sudden his roof flew off the top of the top of Dennis Noodles' house. The raptor looked down at Dennis Noodles and said. "Are you Dennis Noodle?" Coincidentally enough, he shat all over the bathroom. After several moments of silence Denis replied.

"I shat myself." The raptor understood this, and knew instantly that this was indeed Dennis Noodles. The raptor picked up Dennis Noodles and bit off his arm. Dennis screamed and then asked. "What was that for?!" The raptor replied.

"I bit off your arm because you ate my noodles three years ago!" Dennis thought long and hard about this... then answered.

"Yeah, but I didn't bite off your arm!" The raptor saw his point... and decided to be more fair.

"Fine then, give me noodles and I'll say we're even!" Dennis looked at his arm.

"Ummm... and what about my arm?" Dennis said shaking his stub of an arm.

"Suck it up you little wimp!" Replied the raptor! "I hope that you suffer and bleed to death, because NO ONE eats my noodles!" Then the raptor then tore off Dennis' head, then the raptor ate Dennis. Then the raptor thought of something... he still didn't have any noodles! He ran off to the local grocery store and took all of the noodles and went to the counter. The cashier at the store asked if the raptor was going to pay for the noodles and the raptor slit the cashier's larynx. After this, the raptor went back to his place and ate his noodles whole, without boiling them! Dennis Noodles's parents did not notice he was missing, or that the roof was gone - for four more hours... and I... I still have a giant egg in the yard!

The End!

I kept on reading and rereading the page long story in front of me. Then I handed the page back to Su and smiled. "Well Su-chan that was certainly a interesting story. I have to say it did make me laugh a few times." I said as I tried to keep my self from shivering.

"THANKS! No one else said that, they just stared at me and then left!!!" Su said as she ran back to her book shelf. While she was gone I looked out the window that showed the back of Hinata Sou. I saw no giant egg or crater so I sighed a sigh of relief and turned around to see Su running in front of me. "So is that all you came here for?" Su asked as she watched me walk to the door.

"Oh yes, that is all that I needed, thank you for allowing me into your room Su-chan. See you later." I said as I walked out the door and then closed it behind me.

"Bye bye Kenshin-kun!" Su said as she all of a sudden giggled. "Now then... back to my latest invention." Su said as she climbed up some trees all the way up to some canopy at the top of the trees.

I stood outside the door as the words from the book seemed to go through my head again and again... Su was probably more disturbed than Enishi... But for now I guess I guess I should go back to mine and Keitaro's room. If the others were going to be as mind-numbing as Su, then I was in for trouble, or at the very most, insanity. So I made my ways through the halls, down one flight of stairs and then throught the rest of the halls to my room. Where Keitaro was waiting in there.

"Oh hey Kenshin-san, took you a while to get back up here, so where were ya" Kenshin said as I sat down.

"Well Keitaro-san, I decided to get to know some of the tenants, so I stopped by Su's room on the third floor... let's just say it's a jungle up there." I said as Keitaro looked at me.

"So it's that filthy up there? Man I knew that out of all the rooms Su's would be the toughest to clean but..." Keitaro began saying as I shook my head left and right.

"No Keitaro-san, I mean it is literally a jungle, with vines, trees, plants, moss, and the like." I said as Keitaro looked at me with widened eyes.

"Are you serious?" He said as I nodded my head. "Well... I don't think we would need to clean up there then..." Keitaro said as his mystified eyes turned back to the table.

"Yeah that may be a good idea." I said as I looked up at the clock. "Well... it's still pretty early, I think that I'll just..." I began saying as I suddenly fell back and spinning symbols entered my eyes.

"Kenshin-san, what's wrong!?" Keitaro shouted as he shook me and I just layed there.

"Jungle... raptor... Dennis Noodles..." I said as I passed out. Keitaro as simply looked at me, then looked up at the ceiling as a sweat drop appeared on his head.  
"Now I definetly don't want to go to Su's room. He just passed out from mental distress..." Keitaro said as he layed me in my futon for what felt like the hundreth time in the few days I had been here.

Some Large Amount of Hours Later

I slowly opened my eyes to the darkness of mine and Keitaro's room, the entire time I was out I only dreamt of Su's story... I shuddered as I sat up in bed and looked at a clock, situated on my desk. It read about 2:40, and since it was so dark I could tell it was the next day already. I sighed as I got out of my futon and stood up, stretching my stiff body. I walked over to the shelf thing where my sword was kept and took it off and strapped it to my waist. I then walked into the bathroom and did my usual morning routine. When I was done I walked out and noticed Keitaro was asleep at his desk. He must've been studying. I walked over to check on what he was doing when I saw that instead of books, he had files on Hinata Sou. Bank loans, needed repairs, ect. I smiled as I threw Keitaro over my shoulder, with a bit of struggle, the guy's heavier then he looks, and put him into his own futon. After I did I left the room and proceeded walking down the stairs. When I got to the bottom I began walking to the entrance... but before I did I heard sounds coming from the kitchen, it sounded like we were being ramsacked.

I drew my sword and slowly walked towards the kitchen door. I slowly opened it, and the sight I saw made me untense immediately. Kitsune was simply getting more booze from the fridge, no wonder we ran out so early. I smirked as I slowly opened the door all the way while Kitsune had her head inside of the refridgerator door. I tip-toed over and then when I was close enough.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted, trying to sound like Su as much as possible. Kitsune immediately jumped right up out of the refirdgerator and turned around.

"GOD DAMMIT SU HOW MANY TIMES TO I HAVE TO..." Kitsune began yelling until she saw it was me, wearing a smile on my face. "Oh it's just you..." She said as she took a bottle of Sake out of the refridgerator. She walked over to the table and began drinking. "So what are you doing here at this hour?" Kitsune said as she took a large drink.

"I could easily ask you the same thing." I said while smiling while Kitsune turned around and scowled.

"Why should I tell you." Kitsune said as she took another drink.

I sighed as I opened the refridgerator and got out some water for myself, and then sat at the same table as Kitsune. "Well I guess that's fair. As to what I'm doing I'm going to start training soon." I said taking a drink of water as Kitsune simply looked at me.

"Why would you train this early in the morning?" She said as she took another drink of her Sake.

"Well you don't think that this body and my sword skills just happened did you?" I asked as Kitsune raised an eyebrow. "No, I had to work for them, and work very hard I do almost every single day." I said as I took another drink of water.

"Well why work so hard now when you got the hang of it?" Kitsune said as she took another drink of Sake.

"Because there are people far more powerful then I am... and there's one I have a bone to pick with... And also, I guess I do it out of habit." I said taking one last drink of water. "Well Kitsune-san it was nice talking with you." I said as I walked out of the kitchen and began making my way to the front door while Kitsune sat there, shook her head, and began taking another drink of Sake... "Oh and Kitsune-san." I said as I peeked my head through the door and Kitsune stopped to look at me. "Drinking this late at night won't be too good for that.. oh what word did dad use... oh yeah, voluptuous figure of yours." I said quickly pulling my head through the door, thinking that Kitsune would probably throw the Sake bottle at me.  
But suprisingly I didn't hear a Sake bottle hitting the wall.

General POV

If I had stayed I would've seen Kitsune just sitting there, kind of staring at the door. She sighed as she shook her head. "Kids..." She said as she lifted the bottle of Sake to her lips. She didn't take a drink though as she stared at it. "... Ahhh. That's enough for tonight." She said as she put the cork back on the bottle, put the bottle back in the refridgerator, closed the door, and then walked back upstairs towards her room.

Kenshin POV

I walked outside of Hinata Sou and looked at the night time sky. So many stars out, despite us being so close to the city. I looked over the city and saw that there really weren't that many lights on. I looked up again and admired the beauty that was right there in front of me. And to think that I would be able to look upon this beauty every single day for as long as I stay at Hinata Sou. The thought made me feel lighter, as if some stress was just instantly lifted off my shoulders. I looked foward and then began running at a pretty fast pace. I ran my usually lap around the town, passing through all of the empty streets. I turned to the street that would be the last leg of my running and as I did I saw something I didn't expect to see. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, or what it was going here. It was some kind of bird, it looked weird though, it had a long outstreched neck, its head was pretty small and it had some feathers sticking out of the top of it, the wings and body were also pretty big, and it just was there, on the edge of a building, looking in the direction of Hinata Sou. I could tell immediately, that it was spying on Hinata Sou.

It looked down at me, its eyes looking directly into my own, and then it flew off the edge of the building and started flying circles around the street. I watched it for a second before a smile crossed my face. I quickly jumped onto one of the walls of the buildings, jumped off that wall and onto the ledge of the building across from it, and then jumped into the air, caught the bird, and then landed on the ground. I looked at the bird with fake curiousity, as I turned my head slightly to the side.

"What a strange looking bird." I said as I began petting the bird on the head, not only calming it down but causing it to coo at the same time. "You like that don't you?" I said as the bird nodded slightly, and I looked at it with an interested look. "Wow you can understand me, cool." I said as I began running my hand down the bird's neck. "Well now this is a feature I never have seen in a bird before, large body, long neck, small head. You're an oddball aren't ya little fella." I said as the bird semi-glared at me as I began laughing. "I'm just kidding little fella, that I am." I said as the bird calmed down slightly and began pecking at one of its wings. "You wanna go now?" I asked as the bird nodded. "Well then little fella I'll let you go then, that I will..." I said as I began letting the bird go but then stopped. "But before that could you pass on a message to your master?" I asked as the bird's eyes actually widened a bit, making him look even more weird.

"Tell your master that whatever they want with Hinata Sou it better not cause problems." I said as my facial expression became more serious, my eyes narrowing, and the bird actually began sweating. "Or else, as the samurai to the owner of the house, and the grounds keeper, I'll have to take care of it." I said as the bird's eyes widened even more. I literally could imagine its next thoughts.

'This punk is actually threatening my master?!' I could imagine the bird thinking.

"Now then mister bird." I said as I smiled lightly to it. "If you deliver that message and come back when you're done I'll give you a nice handful of seeds." I said as the bird actually started to look like it was drooling. "Sunflower seeds." I whispered to it as it immediately went crazy. I chuckled as I imagined its next thoughts.

'SUNFLOWER SEEDS!!!" God damn! I gotta get me the hell outta here, and get some of that!!!' I imagined it think as I looked at it.

"Do we have a deal my fine, feathered friend?" I asked as it nodded again. "Okay then, well see you later then." I said as I released the bird and it sped off into the distance. I watched the strange bird fly off into the distance as I once again began running towards Hinata Sou. As I made my way up the stairs I saw that the sky, despite all the time I took to talk to the bird, was still very dark. I was still on time despite my stop and chat with the bird. I reached the top of the stairs I immediately began running through the halls of Hinata Sou and up the stairs to my little training spot, the annex. I stood in the middle of the annex for a few minutes in order to regulate my breathing and then I began doing several other work outs once again.

About an hour and a half later I was resting my hands on my knees as I was catching my breath. I stood up as I regulated my breathing and then pulled out my sword and then got into my stance. I began taking swings at the air, several slashes, several fast slashes. I kept it up for several minutes until I felt satisfied with the amount of swings I had taken, I began stabbing the air in front of me as I once again heard the sound of the door to the annex opening as Motoko walked up. When she saw me she scowled slightly before taking on her usual look.

"And I liked the silence here yesterday." Motoko said as she walked in.

"Well sorry Motoko, I just got better and so I decided to train again this morning, as I will every morning I have the chance to." I said as I stabbed the air in front of me once again.

"I see, I suppose I should find another place to train then." Motoko said as she began walking towards the door.

"Motoko." I said as Motoko stopped, scowled a bit before turning around. "I was wondering, perhaps you would like to train with me?" I said as Motoko raised her eyebrow and then before I could even comprehend it she drew her sword, ran over to me, and then held her sword to my throat. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked as I began panicking and Motoko glared at me.

"Watch yourself pervert, I won't give you any chance to do anything perverted to me, got it?" She said as she put her sword back into its sheath and walked out of the annex, and closed the door. I stood there and sighed as I watched her leave.

"Man, just when I got her respect..." I said as I groaned and then placed the sword back into its sheath and began doing Batto-jutsu for practice.

General POV

"Everyone! Breakfast is ready!" Shinobu shouted about and hour later as everyone funneled down the stairs. All of the girls arrived first as they glanced at each other and nodded. Keitaro arrived and recieved the same greetings, only Motoko's glare, Shinobu's and Kitsune's silence, were much more powerful. Then everyone heard stummbling down the stairs and looked up to see me, leaning up against the wall of the stairwell, sweating profusely, and gasping for breath.

Everyone watched me with eyes filled with interest as I began walking over to the kitchen, picking a few herbs out of the refridgerator, and beginning to boil some hot water. I began mixing the herbs with the water as the color of the water changed from clear to a light brownish green. I then walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured some Sake into the mix, causing it to become a very light green.

I walked over to the table and sat down, everyone's eyes still watching me intently as I began drinking the mixture I had created. I drank it all in one gulp and sat there for a few seconds before taking a very deep breathe, and then expelling it in the form of a yawn, a rather large amount of what looking like steam escaping from my breath. I looked up, though my face and hair was still saturated with sweat, but my body's posture seemed much more relaxed, and I had a smile on my face.

"Hello everyone." I said non-chalantly as if I had done no exercise the entire morning as everyone just stared at me with eyes so wide open, they were the size of dinner plates. "So what is for breakfast Shinobu-chan?" I asked as I looked at Shinobu. Shinobu shook herself a little bit and forced herself out of her stupor and then walked over to the counter and picked up a couple trays filled with food, and began handing them out to us, not saying a thing to me. I stared momentarily at Shinobu momentarily before hurrying through my breakfast, this time at the same pace as Su. As I finished I sat up and began walking towards the hall that led to the bath. "I gotta take a bath now, see you all soon." I said as I turned and smiled to them as I walked down the halls to the bathroom as everyone stared at my back.

General POV

Slowly the girls filed out of the kitchen, only leaving Shinobu and Keitaro left.

"Well Shinobu-chan..." Keitaro said as he stood up. "I guess I'll see ya later too." Keitaro said as he left the room, leaving Shinobu to wash the dishes.

Kenshin POV

I poured a bucket of water over my head in the hot springs as I soaked in the warm water. I sighed a sigh of grief as I looked over the situation. Kitsune and her plotting really screwed me over here for now, and now Keitaro and I are going to have to work to gain everyone's respect again... oh well at least we have Naru on our side... I hope. I looked up at the sky and then sighed as I sank deeper into the water.

'Let's hope, that ten days from now things will get a little more interesting.' I thought as I poured another bucket of water on my head.

Wow this chapter was really easy to reconstruct. Remember to review!!!!


	4. Hellish First Official Day on the Job!

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Well now, I gotta say these chapters are getting easier and easier to reconstruct, if I keep this up the entire story will be reconstructed. That's right people, this story as of now, will be replacing Love Hina: My New... Wierd Life. Please LHMNWL fans don't be sad, this story will be just as good, if not better.

Now onto the reviews;

Well now onto the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper.

Chapter 4: Hellish First Official Day on the Job!

Kyoto

General POV

October 27 (Five Days After Last Chapter)

We come onto the scene to see the serene, yet busy city of Kyoto, Japan. There are many people traveling through the crowded steets, each of them off to work, the store, or some other location. But these people are not the focus of the beginning of this chapter. Instead it is a woman, with long black hair, wearing a kimono of sorts, red and white, and a long sword, without a tsuba, at her side in its sheath. We also see that she is carrying a rather large crate with her as she walks down the roads, the people walking it with her greeting her happily.

"Hello there Turuko-san! How are you today?" A woman said as he walked by her.

"Well the 'man' of the house had to go to work today, leaving me to buy most of the things from the store." Tsuruko said with a smile as she continued walking.

"Well now he isn't exactly the best husband if he left you to do that now is he?" The woman said with a teasing tone.

"Maybe so, but still, he's my husband afterall. And if he can't buy things from the store that only leaves me I suppose." Tsuruko said as the woman laughed and continued walking by. Tsuruko smiled as well as she turned onto a less crowded side street. She continued to follow this street until it eventually led to another, but this one was of dirt. She began following this one through the outskirts of the town, leading up to a forest, hill-like area. She walked until she reached the bottom of some stairs. As she was about to walk up them she heard a 'coo' coming from the air and looked up. When she did she saw her bird, Slowly descending from the sky. Tsuruko smiled as she put the crate down and outstretched her arm, allowing the bird to land on it.

"Well hello there." Tsuruko said with a smile. "Do you have any news of my little sister?" Tsuruko said as the bird shook its head back and forth and Tsuruko looked at it with a confused look. "No? Then why have you returned so soon?" Tsuruko said as the bird motioned its head, telling her to pull it closer. Tsuruko did and the bird began telling her of my message to her. As the bird quieted down Tsuruko chuckled and then looked at it. "So he bribed you into givinbg me this message with sunflower seeds eh?" Tsuruko asked as the bird nodded and Tsuruko chuckled even more.

"Well now this is a very confident swordsman isn't he?" Tsuruko said as the bird shook its head up and down. "Hold on a second." Tsuruko said as the bird flew off its arm and onto a nearby branch as Tsuruko sug around in the chest and pulled out a piece of paper a ink pen, and then closed the chest and put the paper on top of the crate and then wrote down a message on the piece of paper. She then opened the box, and pulled out an envelop and put the letter inside and wrote her name on the cover. She then took out a piece of string from the box. She licked it closed and signaled the bird to come back as she stretched out her arm.

The bird landed and then she tied the letter to the birds leg and looked at it while smiling. "Now then I want you to fly back to the swordsman's home, give this letter to him and then wait for him to give you the sunflowers you deserve." Tsuruko said as the bird cooed happily, and Tsuruko chuckled. "Hahaha. And then tell me his response okay?" Tsuruko said while smiling as the bird nodded. "Okay then, you may go." Tsuruko said as the bird flew off her arm and went into the distance. Tsuruko watched as she turned around and lifted the crate back up. She took a few steps towards the base of the stairs before stopping in place.

"Kenshin Himura... sounds like an interesting young man..." Tsuruko said as she climbed up the stairs. When she reached the top she turned around and smiled lightly towards the the direction her bird flew off to. "I think I'll be paying a visit to not only my sister... but also this strange young swordsman." She said as she turned around and began walking through more dense forest, seemingly to her home.

Kenshin POV

Back at Hinata Sou I was doing my morning bath when I suddenly sneezed, and loudly at that. "Someone must be talking about me..." I said as I continued to soak in the hot springs.

November 1 (Five Days Later)

I was running that morning. I was trying to pick up the pace this morning, afterall I can't get better if I jog forever. I kept on running through the empty streets as I passed through the same area that I had met the bird ten days before. I heard a familiar 'coo' and I stopped running and smiled as I looked up to see the bird I had met here ten days earlier flying circles above my head. I held out my arm and the bird dived from the air and then landed on my arm. It cooed again and I smiled as I watched it try to find a comfortable spot on my arm. When it stopped I smiled again.

"Well hello there my little friend, how are you this morning?" I asked as the bird motioned its head towards the letter tied to its leg. I nodded as I began untieing the letter from the bird's leg and then I opened up the letter and then saw that there was a signature on it, the name read Tsuruko. "Tsuruko eh? Well bird-san, that is a nice name." I said as the bird tilted its head. I opened the letter and began scanning the letter that Tsuruko had sent me.

_Dear Himura-san,_

_My name is Tsuruko Aoyama. It seems as though that you have met my messager bird, and apparently given him a very... well, different message than what I normally would recieve. I suppose you don't know who I am so I will make it clear now. As I said I am Tsuruko Aoyama, the older sister of Motoko Aoyama, who you no doubt have met since you now live at Hinata Sou. If you believe my sister is a powerful swordswoman, then you can't imagine my abilities._

_Now then, this is not to say I was insulted by your message. You're obviously a honorable person to take on the role of samurai of Hinata Sou so seriously as to check out any risk to its, or its tenants, safety. I respect you very much for this quality for most swordsmen I meet are now either in the Yakuza, hurting innocents, or just use their styles to show off to people. You are obviously a man of honor, and you obviously intend to keep it intact so I will not take any offense to your message._

_Now then you are obviously worried about what my bird was doing watching over Hinata Sou. I assure you I do not plot to harm anyone in it in any possible way. You see my sister is the heir to our sword style, the Shinmeiryuu, and since she is the heir I have taken it upon myself to watch over her, and make sure that she will be a woman of honor, and not one of shame to the family style. I believe you would understand this. But I do worry about my sister, so that is the other reason my bird watches over Hinata Sou._

_When this message reaches you I hope that my assumption about your spirit and honor is correct, for I do not wish to trust the protection of Hinata Sou to just some samurai. So please do take care of my sister, as well as the other tenants at that dormitory. I plan to visit someday and when I do I am hopeful to meet you Himura-san._

_Tsuruko Aoyama._

I read, and then reread the letter over and over again. It became apparent to me that Tsuruko was a calm type of person, but I figured that this would of at least ticked her off a little. But then again I have been wrong many times before, so this time shouldn't really affect anything. So I put the letter in my pocket, and put my arm back out for the bird to land on. When it did I reached into my pocket and pulled out a handful of sunflower seed. When the bird saw them it ate them faster than a fat guy waiting in line for a all-you-can-eat buffet for an hour. As it finished I smiled at it.

"Thank you bird-san, I would like to thank you for taking my message to her and bringing me her reply." I said as the bird cooed happily. "Now then can I ask you to send her another message?" I said as the bird looked at my pocket. "Yes there would be more sunflower seed in store for you if you do this." I said as the bird cooed happily once more and I chuckled. "Tell her thank you for the reply, and that she should not worry, that Hinata Sou will stay safe under my watch. And also tell her that I also am... looking foward to meeting her." I said as the bird nodded and flew off.

As I expected it to fly off into the distance, it instead landed on the ledge of the building I first saw it on when it was here ten days ago. 'Oh well, I suppose that after ten days of flying, and a duty to watch over Hinata Sou it would have to stop eventually...' I thought as I began running off. I slowed down a few hundred feet away as a thought crossed my mind. In the letter Tsuruko said that Motoko was the heir to her school...

FLASHBACK

_"It gives me a since of freedom actually." I said as I then began picking the pace up on my swings._

_"Freedom?" Motoko said as she lifted her head up._

_"Yes, the freedom of knowing that no matter what you are free to chase your passions, free to go where ever you feel like going... free to be.. free I guess." I said as I began stabbing the air in front of me._

_"Free.. to be free..." Motoko muttered as she began walking back to the door. "Rurouni!" She said catching my attention. "I hope that your travels bring you good fortune." Motoko said as she left the annex._

END FLASHBACK

The smile that usually graced my face faded as I finally realized what I felt behind those words, and my initial thoughts were correct. She envied my freedom, she wanted my freedom... she yearned for my freedom. I looked up at the sky as I ran, a thoughtful expression came across my face. "Motoko-san..." I muttered as I continued running. Her life must be a hell, afterall, what's the worth of a life you do not actually get to live?

I ran all the way up the steps of Hinata Sou, all the way to the top. I was at the annex before I knew it, taking time to read Tsuruko's letter and give bird-san the seeds took up a lot of time, and this morning time was something I could not afford to waste, at all. I began rushing through all of my exercises, but I knew I couldn't get all of them done in time, but the training in later days should help me make up for the wasted time. As the sun began rising over the horizen, I began running through the house again, I had to get to the kimonos before breakfast, afterall I didn't want to be late, the food would get cold. As I kept on running I saw Su appear out of the corner of my eye.

"Hi Kenshin-kun!!!!" Su said as she attempted to kick my head, but I jumped right over top of Su. Su watched me as in slow motion I went over her kick. She even kept on tilting her head back to the point that it was perpendicular to the ground. She then fell and hit her head on the floor. She sat up looking in my direction while rubbing a giant knot on her head. "Owie." She muttered as she watched me run.

"I'm sorry Su-chan, you're going to have to kick my head in some other time! I'm in a hurry!" I said as I ran as fast as I could through the halls. Su watched the hallway I left down with widened eyes before she smiled.

General POV

"Wow he sure is good, nobody dodged my 'Hiya!' kick before!!!" Su shouted as she got up. "I wonder what he was in such a hurry for anyway?" She said as she tapped her chin. "Hmmm. HEY!" She suddenly shouted. "Maybe he got himself a hot date! Yeah that's definetly it, I gotta go tell everyone!" Su said as she began running down the halls of Hinata Sou, no doubt about to start the beginning of this hellish day...

Kenshin POV

I ran quickly down the stairs of Hinata Sou, barely seeing Kitsune walking up one of the stairs. "Hello Kenshin, how are..." Kitsune began saying as I ran past her too and made her spin in circles before she fell on her knees on the floor, with the spinning symbols in her eyes. She sat up and held her head. "What... the hell..." She said dizzily as she saw me running down the halls.

"Sorry Kitsune-san, I have to get moving now!!!" I yelled as I kept on running down the halls. Kitsune regained her senses around the same time Su began running up from the hallway behind Kitsune.

General POV

"Kitsune!" Su yelled as she ran by. "Kenshin-kun has a hot date!!!" Su said as she continued to run down the halls. Kitsune sat there stupified before she stood and began running to catch up with Su.

"What?! Wait Su, hold on!!!" Kitsune said as she joined Su on her chase.

Kenshin POV

I continued running down the halls of the first floor when I saw Motoko appear from a hallway. She took one look at me and sent me a glare that would've sent chills up my spine had I not been in such a hurry. "What have you..." Motoko began saying as I sped by her so fast that the gust of wind that blew along with it tore off all of her clothes, except her body wraps and panties. She quickly covered up and looked in my direction with a look of pure rage. "WHAT THE HELL YOU PERVERT!?!?!" She yelled as I continued running.down the halls.

"Sorry Motoko, I have to rush, NOW!!!" I said as I ran down the halls and Motoko picked up all of her clothes and held them against her body. She glared at my back as she began putting her clothes back on, then as she finished putting her clothes on Kitsune and Su ran up to her.

General POV

"Motoko have you heard?!" Kitsune shouted as Motoko just looked at her with curious eyes.

"What?" Motoko asked as Su jumped onto Kitsune's shoulders.

"Kenshin-kun has a hot date!!!" Su shouted as Motoko eyes had a shadow grow over them as she began shaking.

"Motoko?" Kitsune asked as Motoko looked up her eyes in their more demonic look.

"That... PERVERT!!!" Motoko shouted as she began drawing her sword out. "I'll kill THAT PERVERT!!!" Motoko shouted as she began running down the halls as Kitsune and Su began running after her.

"Wait Motoko, this place can't afford another law suit!!!" Kitsune said as she began running after Motoko as Su stood for a minute before chuckling.

"Today is going to be a fun day!!!" Su shouted as she too joined in the chase.

Kenshin POV

I continued running through the halls of Hinata Sou as I began approaching the kitchen. I was so close to the entrance it was scary. I sped up, nowing that the next door would lead to the kitchen. I ran through the door and crashed into someone. We both fell to the floor as I heard a girl scream quickly as I looked up and saw Shinobu pointing up towards the air.

"The dishes and pots and pans!!!" Shinobu shouted as I looked up and saw dishes, pots, pans, glasses, and even forks, knives, and spoons. I stood up and began stacking the dishes on my right arm, catching all the pans and glasses with my left arm. Catching all of the knives with my teeth. I caught a pot on my head and all of the forks and spoons fell into it. I then caught the rest of the pots with my left foot and leg. I stood there for a second, all of the pots and pans and etc. stacked on random places on my body as Shinobu began staring at me with amazed eyes. "Wow Kenshin-san, that was incredible." Shinobu said as I quickly began stacking all of the things on the counter. As I finished I began running out the door.

"Sorry Shinobu-chan, I gotta go now!" I yelled as I ran out of the kitchen and running towards the front door. As Shinobu watched me leave Naru walked down, dressed in her night clothes down the stairs and looked at Shinobu staring at the door.

General POV

"What happened Shinobu?" Naru asked as she yawned.

"Oh Naru-sempai! Kenshin-kun ran in through here and he bumped into me, and all of the dishes I was carrying just went up into the air, and then Kenshin-kun was like..." Shinobu said as she began swinging her arms about, clearly flustered a bit.

"Woah Shinobu, slow down, you're starting to sound a bit like Su." Naru said as Shinobu blushed as she calmed down.

"Well then he caught all of the pots and dishes and put them over there." Shinobu said as she pointed to the counter. Naru turned to see a lot of dishes and other cooking items stacked on top of each other in a rushed fashion.

"Wow, he's good." Naru said as she began looking around. "So where is he?" Naru asked Shinobu as Shinobu shrugged.

"I don't know, she just said he had to go and then ran out of here." Shinobu said as all of a sudden all of the pots and pans began shaking, as if an earthquake were about to begin. But Naru and Shinobu knew better... "MOTOKO'S ANGRY!!!" Shinobu shouted as she ran behind one of the chairs.

"SAVE THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN!!!" Naru shouted as she jumped behind the chair Shinobu was cowering behind as the door bust open and Motoko burst through sword drawn as she began vigorously looking around the room.

"WHERE IS THAT PERVERT!?!?!?!??!" Motoko shouted as Naru and Shinobu were reduced to chibi-form as they cowered before Motoko's awesome rage. "WHERE IS HE?!?!?!!?" She shouted again as she practically cut the table in half to see Naru and Shinobu holding each other, quivering in fear.

"H-h-h-he was ju-just here a minute ago, he sa-sa-said something about needing to go..." Shinobu said as she grasped on tighter to Naru.

"WHY THAT!!!" Motoko shouted as she was enveloped by a mailstrom of Ki. "I'LL KILL HIM!!" Motoko shouted as Kitsune and Su jumped out of nowhere and latched onto her, trying to calm her down.

"Kitsune-chan, Su-chan, can you explain what the hell is going on here?!" Naru shouted as she became unchibified, with a chibi Shinobu still clinging onto her.

"Well Naru... I'm still not even clear on this whole thing..." Kitsune said as Su jumped foward.

"Kenshin-kun has a hot date!!!" Su shouted as everyone just froze.

"What?" Naru asked as Shinobu became normal again with tears in her eyes.

"Yeah Kenshin-kun was in a rush this morning, so I figure he's gotta have a hot date!" Su shouted as they heard someone coming down the steps. The looked and saw the door to the kitchen open to reveal Keitaro, holding his hand in front of his face to block a yawn. When he saw the girls he smiled.

"Hello everyone." He said in his usual cheerful voice, unaware of the current situation. "How is everyone this morning?" Keitaro asked as Motoko ran up to him and held her sword to his neck. "WHAT DID I DO THIS TIME?!" Keitaro shouted as Motoko glared at him.

"AND YOU!!! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THAT PERVERT INTO THIS PLACE!!!" Motoko shouted as all the other girls jumped on top of her and Keitaro, trying to wrestle Motoko back to the ground. On the outside Hinata Sou was literally jumping up and down off the ground as the fighting took place inside.

Kenshin POV

I ran down the streets in the blink of an eye. The people on the street not knowing what hit them when I flew by and the wind blew into them. I kept on running as fast though, even when I approached a large crowd of people I just jumped onto their heads and ran across their heads. As I reached across the crowd I jumped down and kept on running foward. I was coming up on the tailor shop and I slowed down to a walk. I opened the door to the shop to find that it looked exactly like it did a few days earlier, buisness really wan't booming.

The man came out of the back room with several copies of my robes and white under clothes as well. He laid down most of the pairs and threw one set to me. "Here, try this on. The others are exactly like it so if this one's okay then you're set to pay me." He said as I nodded and walked into the changing room. I began changing out of my, now incredibly filthy and smelly, robe and changed into the new, fresh robe. I had to say the guy had done a perfect job, the new robe was just like the old one, and it felt even better. The material he used is amazing.

I stepped out and presented myself to the tailor. He walked a few circles around me, doing a last minute inspection for tears, loose stiches and other kinds of problems. As he circled me for the third time he nodded and then walked back to the counter and hit several buttons on the register and then looked at me. He motioned for me to look at the register, and when I saw the number my eyes widened. "My God I hope that's your phone number." I said as he shook his head no and I sighed. I fished my wallet out of my robe and got out a large amount of my yen and gave it to the guy. He smirked as he put the money in the register and then closed it.

"Hope you have a great day sir." He said as I glared at him slightly. "Hey don't blame me, I do have to make a livin' you know." He said as I let out an exasperated sigh and then nodded. He packed my new clothes, and my old pair, into paper bags and then handed me my change and then waved me good bye. "Hope to see you soon kid." He said as I walked out he door of the store. I had to say, I would never come back to this store unless hell froze over. I made my way down the street, heading back to my home, the ever comforting Hinata Sou.

General POV

Hinata Sou

Back at Hinata Sou most of the girls were hiding behind the kitchen door, Motoko was keeping her hand on the handle of her sword, preparing to draw it at a moments notice. Shinobu was shakily holding a frying pan with tears in her eyes. Su was just sitting on the floor behind them, smiling a wide smile. Kitsune was still trying to get her head around the entire situation. Meanwhile Keitaro was tied up with a gag in his mouth, next to him was Naru who was watching him closely, a look of slight regret in her eyes.

"Look I'm sorry, I'm afraid of you guys getting hurt but..." Naru said as she looked at Motoko and shivered. "I'm afraid of getting on Motoko's bad side more." Naru said as Keitaro sighed through his gag, and the nodded in a way that said 'I don't blame you'. In the next minute they all heard the front door sliding open.

"Hello everyone, I'm back!" They heard me yell as they heard a sliding door shut and as Motoko drew her sword while whispering.

"Get ready everyone, that pervert is coming in." She said, her voice laced with venom. The others just looked at her while nodding, each of them having their own seperate thoughts.

'I wonder when that kid had enough time to get a date, I sure as hell didn't notice anything...' Kitsune thought as she brought her hands up in front of her ready to punch something.

'Kenshin-kun...' Shinobu thought as she shakily held the frying pan to her face.

'I wonder if I should have bananas or mangos for breakfast?' Su thought as they all heard the sound of a few steps being taken towards the kitchen door and the door opening slowly before Keitaro spat the gag out of his mouth looked on with a look of panic on his face.

"RUN KENSHIN-SAN, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!" Keitaro said as Motoko nearly killed him.

Kenshin POV

I walked in just in time to see Motoko just about hit Keitaro hit with Motoko's sword, though she stopped to look at me, Shinobu staring at me with tears in her eyes and a frying pan in her hands, Kitsune staring at me with a lowered jaw and wide eyes, Su just sitting there smiling at me, and Naru looked at me with raised eyes. "Oh hello everyone." I said as I looked at the frying pan in Shinobu's hands. "Oh I'm sorry Shinobu-chan did I miss breakfast, man I made such an effort of getting back here after I picked up my clothes to eat your fabulous breakfast." I said as practically everyone in the room, minus Su and I, face vaulted into the ground.

"He..." Motoko said as she stared on.

"Was just..." Shinobu said next, staring on completely shocked by the events, and also wearing a huge blush from my compliment.

"Picking up his..." Kitsune said next, just as shocked as Shinobu was.

"Laundry..." Naru said next as her left eye twitched.

"Was all?" Keitaro finished as they all turned around to see Su sitting behind them, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly while she blushed and laughed a bit nervously.

"Well he was in such a hurry that I just figured that he had some kind of date..." Su said as Shinobu and Naru stared at her with a 'how do you manage to cause so much trouble' look, while Motoko looked at her with a 'well at least she's learning the true behavior of men' look. While Kitsune was looking with a 'what the hell is going on' look, as she still could not wrap her head around this entire thing.

"Date? What are you all talking about?" I asked as they all suddenly turned to me with estranged expressions.

"Oh nothing Kenshin-san, nothing at all!" Naru shouted as she waved her arms in front of her face.

"Then why is Keitaro-san tied up right behind you?" I asked as everyone turned to Keitaro, sweating profusely.

"We-well you see Keitaro-san accidentally walked in on us when we were taking a bath and so we decided to punish him by tieing him up." Kitsune said quickly as everyone began nodding quickly along with her.

"Oh I just can't leave you alone for one minute can I Keitaro-san." I said as I began laughing lightly and Keitaro laughed nervously. "Well Shinobu did I miss breakfast?" I asked as Shinobu blushed and looked down.

"Oh no, you haven't, in fact it should be ready in a few minutes..." Shinobu started saying as I began walking.

"Okay then, I'll just put these away." I said as I walked through the kitchen door, up the stairs, and through the halls to my room. I hung all of the rest of my robes on the hanger and smiled as I walked over to the counter and placed my wallet on it. I then made my way back to the kitchen, a spring in my step as I made my way downstairs. As I reached the bottom everyone had begun to eat breakfast. I sat down as I too began to dig in, this time faster than Su, like almost everyday I had a tough workout, afterall you don't rush all over town without eating breakfast and not have a huge appetite. As I finished I stood up, told everyone I was heading to the springs, and made my way to them as I did almost every morning.

I took off my in the locker room, but I was still exhausted beyond comprehension from the rush, and addrenaline withdrawl. I literally fell into the water and allowed the warm comfort to wash over my entire body, easing the pain and discomfort that had been set into my body, and also the dirty feeling I got every time I entered that tailor shop disappeared too. I stayed there for at least a half hour, I wasn't sure, when I heard people talking. I looked up and saw that all the tenants were back in Kitsune's room. I got up and walked into the locker room and got my sword. I went back into the springs, and threw my sword so that it would stick a few feet below the window of Kitsune's room. I then jumped around the springs until I as on top of my sword.

I then began listening intently to the conversation going on in the room. "Well girls, today is the day." I heard Kitsune say as I stood on my sword.

"Yes, it is time to put 'Operation Kickout' into action." Motoko said as I began leaning closer to the wall.

"Alright then, so this is how we'll begin..." I heard Kitsune begin saying as I heard wood snapping as I looked down to see my sword slowly pulling out of the ledge. It then fell completely out as I fell into the pool of water below me as the sword hit the ground. Kitsune looked out the window quickly, when she saw nothing she slipped back into her room. I got out of the water, and then got my sword and began making my way to the locker room. After I got dressed I made my way back to mine and Keitaro's room.

As I made my way in I saw Keitaro sitting down in front of his desk, leaning back on his hands as he stared at the ceiling. I sat down beside him and looked up to see what was so interesting. "How strange..." Keitaro said all of a sudden making me turn my head to face him.

"What is strange Keitaro-san?" I asked as he began sit up straight.

"Their sudden change of attitude towards us... and that Nana entrusted me with the dorm, what's on her mind anyway?" Keitaro said as he began pouring himself and I a cup of tea. I took the cup of tea and took a quick drink of it.

"I would not know Keitaro-san, afterall I have never met Hina-san, that I have not." I said as I took another drink of tea. Then all of a sudden Keitaro began smiling a calm, and relatively cheery smile.

"At least we have the right to live here now." He said taking a drink of his tea. "We're really going to have to thank Nana for this." Keitaro said while I nodded.

"Indeed, you owe Hina-san a lot for giving you this place, and I owe you a lot for allowing me to live in this place Keitaro-san." I said while Keitaro nodded as we both took another drink.

"Come to think of it. A female's dorm caretaker can't be assigned to just anyone." He said as he poured more tea into my cup and then refilled his.

"Indeed Keitaro-san." I said quickly agreeing with him while I took another drink.

"Hmmmm. I'm getting more and more excited about this." Keitaro said as a light blush appeared on his face. I hit him over the head with a paper fan as I took another drink. He sat there for a minuted, holding his head while looking at me. "What was that for?" Keitaro said while he nursed the tiny lump on his head.

"I'm sorry Keitaro-san, but you were kinda drifting off there for a second... and I'm starting to wonder if you really are a pervert or not, especially with your accident in the hot springs." I said while Keitaro blushed while holding his head.

"Yeah I guess I was, sorry about that, and thanks for snapping me out of it... and could we please forget that." He said while taking another drink.

"You're welcome, and I guess so, now then it's November now so you better get back to studying." I said while Keitaro nodded and went straight into one of the study guides on the table as we heard a knock on the door. The door slid open as Keitaro turned his head to see..

"M-Mitsune?!" Keitaro said shocked as the young woman entered our room.

"I have a favor to ask of you two." She said as she left the room. "Come here a second will you two?" She asked as she motion for us to follow her. We did follow her, all the way down to the first floor.

"'Come with you' where to exactly?" Keitaro asked as we continued walking.

"The hot springs." Kitsune said non-chalantly.

"WHAT?! THE HOT SPRINGS!?" Keitaro and I shouted as Kitsune began to walk into the locker room.

"Come on in." She said as she opened the sliding door to the locker room for the hot springs and we followed, though Keitaro and I were a bit nervous about it. Kitsune then, as we entered, walked over to Keitaro and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"HEY HEY!" Keitaro shouted as he tried to back away from Kitsune.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING MITSUNE-SAN!?!??!" I shouted as blood started crawling out of my nose.

"Taking of your clothes." Kitsune said non-chalantly once again, as she continued to unbutton Keitaro's shirt.

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Keitaro shouted again as Kitsune looked up to him with a blush on her face.

"What are you saying? These clothes make you clumsy. How can you do anything with these on hmmm?" Kitsune said making Keitaro blush, after she was done pestering Keitaro she started walking over to me. Before she could get her hand within two feet of me I grabbed her hand. She looked at me with raised eyebrows as she smirked playfully and a light blush on her face. "Oh come on little guy, don't tell me you're shy?" Kitsune said in a slightly seductive tone.

I blushed greatly as I put her hands back at her sides. "I-I'll be fine with the-these on Kitsune-san." I said as Kitsune shrugged and led us into the hot springs where all of the other tenants, minus Naru, were standing there. "What are you all doing here?!" I asked/shouted while blushing like crazy, Keitaro blushing along with me, figuring that something really weird was about to happen.

"We want both of you to wash these hot springs." Motoko said as she through a pair of jean shorts to Keitaro.

"Yeah, with all of us bathing here, especially Kenshin-kun, it has become filthy." Shinobu said as she through Keitaro a shirt.

"So we want you to wash it until it's squeaky clean!!!" Su shouted as a few mops at me and Keitaro.

"And don't stop until you're finished." Kitsune said as she gave us a few buckets filled with soapy water. As they left Keitaro just looked at them with a look of shock on his face.

"Wait why do we have to do this alone?!" Keitaro shouted as I nodded with him.

"Because you're the landlord." Motoko said pointing to Keitaro. "And because you're the groundkeeper." She said pointing to me. "Get used to it, afterall it's a part of your job." Motoko said as they all left. Keitaro and I turned around to see the entire hot springs, all of them drained so we could clean it more easily, and most of them with lots of grime at the bottom of most of the pools. We both sighed as we began working. In the middle of our working I began cleaning a bit more quickly, my training under Hiko was useful for more than just the art of swords.

"Kenshin-san, why don't you take off those robes?" Keitaro said as I turned to him.

"Well these are just so comfortable, I mean feel this sleeve." I said as I lifted my arm and Keitaro put his hand on it.

"Wow, that is good stuff." He said as I nodded.

"Yeah, now that I wear it it isn't any wonder that it cost so much, that it isn't." I said as we continued.

A hour later we finished most of the hot springs, we both sat at the edge of one of the pools we had completely cleaned. We had refilled it with water and now just sitting on the edge of some of the springs, I was soaking my feet in the water while Keitaro was just blowing on some bruises on his hands. "Why is this hot spring area so large? How will we finish it all on our own?" Keitaro whined while blowing on his hands. Ordinarily I hate people who whine, but in this case I was way too tired to berate him for his whining, and my feet were killing me.

"My hands are bruised and are hurting all over." Keitaro said as he continued blowing on his hands. I just sat up completely and looked at him.

"My feet are killing me, if I so much as take another step it feels like they'll fall off." I said while while pulling out my feet and putting them back into the sandals.

Keitaro looked at me and frowned. "I'm sorry, that's right. You're helping me, I'm sorry for complaining so much..." Keitaro said as I sighed.

"It's okay, I'm just a little tired is all..." I said as I looked over the entire hot spring area.

"Quitting for now would seem to be a good idea..." Keitaro sighed as I nodded in agreement with him. I was so tired that I barely heard the footsteps sneaking up behind Keitaro.

"Hey, were you saying something!" Naru semi-shouted as Keitaro literally leaped into the air and sent the bucket of water right up into the air with him. I saw the bucket slowly fall, I knew where it would land so I pulled out my sword, and set myself into my stance.

"Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu: Ryusosen (Supersonic Sword Technic: Dragon's Nest Strike)!" I shouted as I cut the bucket, and the water into several small pieces. The bucket pieces flew all over the place, while the now driplets of water fell like rain, and actually formed a small rainbow as the sun reflected from the water driplets. Keitaro and Naru stared at it with mouths gaping open. When it ended they both looked in my direction.

"Wow Kenshin-san, that was incredible..." They both said at the same time as they saw me sheath my blade. I smiled lightly and then nodded.

"Thank you two, years of training has helped me with the God-like speed you see me use." I said as Naru and Keitaro raised their eyebrows, warrenting an explanation. "Well, like I've been saying my style is called Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu, the Supersonic Sword Technic, and the name tells you what the style is all about, speed. But, there is a catch to this sword style, immense amounts of phyiscal training are required to help keep the speed up, but also the power behind the swings." I said as I had captivated Naru and Keitaro. "Now then, if you don't mind Naru-san, if you could get done what you came here for so we can finish the cleaning.

Naru nodded as she pulled out a box of bandages out of her pocket and handed it to Keitaro. "Here, I figured you guys may need these." She said as Keitaro and I stared at the box.

"Gee thanks Naru..." Keitaro said as we looked up and saw that she was already leaving the hot springs area.

"No problem!" She shouted as she left, leaving us with the rest of the hot springs to clean... on our own...

It was another few hours later when we finished our task. We were in our room after we were finished, both Keitaro and I exhausted beyond belief. Keitaro was leaning on the floor in his boxers, he stripped down to his boxers to help him cool himself off, and was covered in bandages. Meanwhile I was winded on the other side of the room, this chore wasn't as tough as Hiko's training, but it was pretty high up there.

"Finished cleaning up at last..." Keitaro sighed as he leaned futher into the floor. He turned over and began wiping his brow with a cloth. "I didn't expect a caretakers job to be so hard. My expectations were really too fantastic." Keitaro said as I nodded. Keitaro put on his glasses and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds before he noticed the hole in the ceiling. "OH NO!" Keitaro shouted as he stood up. "Darn it. There's a hole in the ceiling. This place is in worse state than I thought." He said as he stacked a stool on top of a table and stood on top of it.

"I should fix this up quickly afterall I am the caretaker." Keitaro said as I quickly tried to squirm over to where Keitaro was so that I could stop him, but I was going no place fast. "Afterall I am the caretaker." Keitaro said as I paniked and began actually moving at a noticable pace. "Huh? What's this? There's a cover here." Keitaro said as I stood up and began waving my hands in front of my face.

"Wait Keitaro-san, shouldn't a hole like that lead to another..." I began saying as I heard Keitaro lift up on the lid.

When I heard no screaming, and no sounds of someone choking I looked up and saw Keitaro climbing down from the stool, no blush on his face.

"Well what do you know, the hole leads to Narusegawa-san's room." Keitaro said as he walked over to his desk and sat back down. My eyebrows were raised so high that you would think that they would just tear right off my face at any minute. Then, all of a sudden, I became curious. I stood up, slowly, and got on top of the stool on top of the table. And when I looked up I knocked a few times.

"Is that you again Keitaro-san?" I heard Naru say from the other side of the lid.

"No this is Kenshin..." I said in a slightly displaced tone.

"Oh Kenshin-san, something wrong?" I heard Naru say as I heard steps being made across the room.

"No, I was just thinking... that's your room up there?" I said as I heard a hum on the other side of the lid.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" She asked as I heard the sound of a sliding door slide open, it was most likely her closet.

"Well its just for future reference Naru-san..." I said I heard her hum again.

"Yeah okay, I get it." Naru said as I heard the sound of her closet closing.

"Okay then, well I guess I'll just..." I began saying as the stool broke underneath me, man the things in this place really were in terrible condition, as I barely grabbed onto the ledge of the hole in time to stop me from falling. Flashbacks from accidents during mine and Hiko's training flashed through my mind, there were several, and in most cases involved me falling from even the smallest of distances, so naturally I began to panic. "HELP, I'M GOING TO FALL!!!" I shouted as the lid flew open above me.

"Hold on Kenshin-san I'm..." Naru said as we stared at each other for a few seconds. Naru, who apparently was changing clothes from this mornings little 'rain show' I put on, was only wearing her bra. We both began blushing as Naru started shaking. "YOU..." I heard her begin saying as she pulled her entire arm back. "PERVERT!!!" She shouted as she hit me right in the face, sending me flying into the table underneath, causing it to collapse, on top of Keitaro, who had been under me to try and catch me, and on the floor. Naru stared for a few minutes before speaking. "Kenshin-san, Keitaro-san..." he said quietly as Keitaro non-chalantly pushed me off of him and then stood.

"We're okay Narusegawa-san, at least I think we are." Keitaro said as Naru 'humphed' and closed the lid to her room, leaving me and Keitaro down here, me in a little bit of a panic attack, until I calmed down, and loooked at Keitaro embarassed.

"Ke-Keitaro-san..." I gasped out as I stood up. "Sorry, my training with Hiko left me with a few mental scars.

"Oh okay, I just thought you were acrophobic" Keitaro said as he looked at me.

"Why does everyone hurt... me?" I said as I sighed.

"I don't know, but things will get better..." Keitaro said as I stood up.

"Really?" I asked, hoping Keitaro had as much hope for the situation as I did.

"Nope." He said making me face vault into the floor.

General POV

Meanwhile Naru and the other tenants were meeting in Kitsune's room. "How could I have been so blind?! That kid really is a pervert!" Naru shouted as she slammed her hand on the table.

"So this means you'll help us kick out Kenshin and Keitaro." Kitsune said as Naru flinched and then sighed.

"Keitaro is just a by-stander... but..." Naru said as she looked up, her face filled with a look of determination. "I'LL GIVE MY FULL COOPERATION ON 'OPERATION KICK-OUT'! THAT KIND OF PERVERT, EVEN IF HE IS JUST A KID, DOESN'T BELONG HERE. AND EVEN IF KEITARO IS JUST A BY-STANDER, LET'S TELL THEM TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" Naru shouted as the rest of the tenants kinda just stared at her, with their mouths gaping wide open.

Kenshin POV

Meanwhile, again, Keitaro and I were sitting in our room. Keitaro had put on some more clothes as we both sat down and looked over some study guide questions. "I see, so A squared plus B squared equals C squared?" Keitaro asked as he wrote the information down on the guide (a cookie for the person who names what that is).

"Yes, you're doing much better in Geometry than before Keitaro-san, that you are." I said as Keitaro smirked and continued writing in the guide. Then we heard footsteps, rushing down the hall towards our room. In the next instance Naru threw the sliding door open shut, shocking Keitaro and myself out of our skins.

"Can I ask you two a favor? Manager, grounds keeper?" Naru said as she grabbed us by our collars.

"Umm. Su... sure." Keitaro said as I nodded.

She threw us out into the hallway and pointed. "First things first: please clean all of the halls between the first and third floors." Naru said shocking Keitaro.

"All of them!!!" Keitaro and I shouted as Naru nodded.

"Yep, afterall it is both of your two's jobs." Naru said as the house shook again. She, Kitsune, and everyone else who were hiding behind a corner, looked to see me comig out of our room, only wearing my white underclothes that I normally wore under my robes.

"Well then Keitaro-san if we're going to do these chores I suffest that we'd best hurry up and do them before dinner." I said as I rolled out my shoulder as they stared at me. "Besides I really don't feel to well after cleaning the hot springs." I said as I grabbed a cloth and got on all fours, leaning on my hands as they held the cloth. "Well Keitaro-san, are you going to join me?" I asked as Keitaro nodded and also got a cloth and got down beside me. "Afterall..." I started as I looked at him grinning, which made him grin too.

"It is our job." He finished as we both began wiping the floors down, both of us keeping up a pretty good speed as Naru watched us. I noticed though as she watched us she did so dumb-founded. As if she couldn't believe we were, or I was, doing this without complaining. As we finished we stood in front of her kneeling, Keitaro from exhaustion, me out of respect.

"Is there anything else we need to do Naru-san?" I asked as Keitaro straightened up and nodded vigorously. Naru stared at us before shaking her head quickly.

"Yes." She responded rather quickly as she led us to the first floor, to a pretty old room with a cast-iron stove thing. "Now I want you two to cook for us, using this stove" She said as I rolled up my sleeves.

"Let's get going Keitaro-san!" I shouted as I ran over to the stove, while holding a spoon in my hand like a sword.

"HAI!" Keitaro shouted as he got out a pretty big fan and also ran over to the stove, and began furiously fanning it while I began mixing a meal on in, or on it, not exactly sure how it worked. We finished this task much fast then the last. We stood in front of Naru, some of Keitaro's left eyebrow burnt off, while a bunch of soot covered my face as she looked at us with a look of shock. "Any other taks Narusegawa-san..." Keitaro said rather weakly as we stood in front of a dumb-struck Naru.

"Ye-yeah there are more things to do!" Naru shouted as she dragged us to the laundry room, where we saw a bucket with a strainer next to it. "I want you two to do the laundry by hand!" Naru shouted as Keitaro jumped to the bucket and began cleaning the clothes, and after he finished that he gave them to me to hang on the different drying wires. After all the clothes were on wires Keitaro gave me a beater and looked at me.

"Ready Kenshin-san?" Keitaro said as I held the beater out in front of me.

"Ready..." I said as I bent down into my stance. "Everyone in the area pay attention." I said out loud as I heard several gasps come from the other side of the door. "I shall now use the sacred arts of the Hiten Mitsurugi Clothes Drying Ryu!!!" I shouted as everyone sweatdropped.

'Clothes Drying Ryu?' Everyone thought as I sped foward towards all of the clothes.

"Hiten Mitsutrugi Clothes Drying Ryu: Ryusosen Chore Style (Supersonice Sword Clothes Drying Technique: Dragon's Nest Strike Chore Style)!!!" I shouted as I vigorously began beating on all of he clothes, slowly but surely drying them out at god speed. As I finished, and all of the clothes were dry me and Keitaro quickly grabbed the clothes off the wires and began folding them rather quickly, and putting them into baskets. As we finsihed with that task we stood in front of Naru, she stood even more shocked then before.

"Is there any other tasked Naru-san/Narusegawa-san?!" Keitaro and I both suprisingly shouted as Naru could only nod as the sun began to set. She led us out to the front of the building and pointed to buckets of paint.

"Now... oh you get the idea. Repaint the outer wall of Hinata Sou. Apply the fireproofing as well." Naru said as we picked up the buckets and rushed, well I did, to the ropes that would get us into the air so we could paint. Me using various Hiten Mitsurugi Wall Painting Ryu to speed up the process.. As we finished well after nightfall, we stood in front of Naru, a bit dirtied up and with blotches of paint on us, as she just looked at us as if we were posessed by the Devil himself. "How in..." Naru muttered as we heard the sound of Shinobu call everyone to dinner, it was a little hard because Keitaro's and my stomach growled loudly.

We walked in to see everyone sitting at the table. Joyfully eating the food set out by Shinobu. Keitaro and I walked towards the table, or more or less walked towards it like zombies. "Foooooood..." I moaned out as I approached.

"Huuunnnnggrrryyyy." Keitaro moaned out as we approached. Naru walked over to the fridge and pulled out two cups of cup ramen out of it, walked over to our seats and slammed them in front of us.

"Take it. These are yours." Naru said as everyone began to walk away as we stared at the food. "And you can boil the water yourselves!" Naru shouted as Keitaro began crying streams of tears.

"Ke-Kenshin-san..." Keitaro sobbed out. "Is this our job?" Keitaro sobbed out as he looked at me. I knew this was our job, I knew that I needed to keep up a happy face... But I was so hungry... I began crying hysterically, and shortly after Keitaro followed. We took our cups of cup ramen, boiled the water and put it in the ramen. We made our way to the hot springs, our only hope of salvation. When we approached we saw a sign posted on the door.

"'Until the springs are ready for you two, you stay here!' Stay where though?" Keitaro said as we noticed another sign with an arrow on it, leading us down another hall. We kept on following the arrow signs until we reached a small room with two giant bucket things filled with hot water. We both sighed as we undressed to our boxers and got into the buckets. We both fully opened our cup ramen and began eating. "Oh my, to think I had expected that being the caretaker of a female dorm has its good points..." Keitaro said as he shook a bit in the tub thing.

"All we do is hard work, physical work. We don't even experience the good things here. We're so busy we can't even get to my studies..." Keitaro said as he began eating the cup ramen, while I stared at him, with a look of sorrow equaling his. "And Naru... why is she being so mean to us, I mean considering you saw her in her bra but hat was an accident." He said as I nodded and took a slurp of the ramen. "I'm glad you're around Kenshin-san or else I wouldn't know what to do..." Keitaro said as he looked up and saw me smiling.

"Hey this stuff isn't half-bad." I said as Keitaro just stared at me. "Mine's beaf, what's yours?" I asked as Keitaro face vaulted. 

"Kenshin-san, how can you be so happy!?" Keitaro half asked, half shouted. I tapped my chin for a few seconds before answering.

"It's good ramen." I said as he face vaulted again. "And Keitaro things aren't that bad. Sure we do hard labor, but it is making me stronger so I can't complain about that. We are getting food and a room with a view for relatively nothing so I have to be thankful for that too. I guess I'm just plain old happy that I'm alive." I said as I smiled while taking another slurp of ramen. I looked over and saw that Keitaro began smiling too, as he also took a slurp of his ramen.

"Chicken." He said suddenly as I looked at him. "I have chicken flavored ramen!" He semi-shouted as we both laughed. "Man Kenshin-san you know how to lighten the mood." Keitaro said as we finished eating our ramen. We got out of the tubs and began redressing. We then made our way back down to the first floor.

"I think we should try to sneak some real food out of the refridgerator, what do you think?" I said as I grinned, a similar one appearing on Keitaro's face. Just then we both heard a cry for help coming from the hot springs. Without thinking we both started running towards the hot springs as another shriek of shear terror was let loose. We busted through the doors leading to the locker room, and then we busted through the doors leading to the hot springs. "Is something wrong!" I shouted as I drew out my sword and Keitaro followed behind me.

We both froze up as we saw Kitsune and Su on each side of Naru, squeezing her 'lovelies' as they sat blushing. Motoko stood not too far away, forcing a towel around her, her face turning red from embarrassment and anger at the same time. Shinobu was about ten feet in front of us, barley out of her towel. She began crying as she ran behind Motoko, holding her towel close to her as well.

"You two..." Naru growled as she threw a bucket aimed at my head. I ducked quickly, dodgind the bucket aimed at my head. But as a result it hit Keitaro square in the face. He held his face in pain as Kitsune threw a bucket aimed at my left side. I quickly moved right a bit to dodge that one, but it ended up hitting Keitaro in the gut, causing him to bend down a little. Motoko threw the next bucket aimed at my crotch, I jumped to dodge that one, but at that moment Keitaro looked up while bending over and got hit square in the face with the bucket, sending him flying back into the locker room.

While I was still up in the air Naru threw yet another bucket towards my head, I did not see this one coming and therefore was sent flying back into the locker room as well. I quickly shout up to clost the door before they threw anything else at us. As I did I heard the sound of several objects hitting the door, in fact barely two inches from my face Motoko's sword came straight through the door, almost cutting me. I took a few steps back from the door as Keitaro began coming to. We both ran back to our room before anything else could happen, and we locked it to prevent anyone or anything from entering.

We both sat there for a few minutes, we decided that before we went to studying, that we should get any perverted thoughts out of our heads. Our faces went through so many different color changes that it was amazing that neither of us blew blood out of our noses. That was the first few minutes, but after that... that was when the blood began flowing. My thoughts began revolving around so many different weird things that Hiko told me that I blew at least three quarts of blood out until I was done.

Keitaro... wasn't so lucky... he blew gallons of blood out of his nose.. in just five minutes... the rest of the, eventual, half-hour he blew out at least one-hundred. We had to get clean the room so hard, and for so long that it was ten o'clock at night before we could even begin Keitaro's study session.

"Okay so the word '**man**' in English is used as a verb?" Keitaro asked as I shook my head.

"No, the word '**man**' is usually used as a noun describing a adult male. The only times it comes close to being a verb is in the slang term '**oh man**'." I said as Keitaro nodded as he wrote more in the study guide.

"You two are still awake?" We heard come from the ceiling as Naru's lindo-kun doll popped down from the ceiling. "You two are idiots. And not just idiots but perverts too! I can't believe this..." Naru said as Keitaro just looked blankly at the doll. "A couple of guys can't make it as a manager and grounds keeper at a girl's dorm! Why don't you both just quit!?" Naru said as the lindo-kun was retracted back to Naru room and Keitaro sighed. "And you both suck with girls too." She said making an imaginary five-hundred ton weight fall on top of Keitaro's head. "And now you made Shinobu cry." Naru said as Keitaro straightened back up.

He tried to say something, but couldn't. He didn't have a response to what she was saying. I did though, but saying it would just put me and Keitaro in a worse predicament. So I would at least try to defend us. "Look we're sorry, we heard someone cry for help and we thought that something had happened." I said as Keitaro nodded vigorously.

"Yeah right." Naru said as we heard her shut the lid to her room, effectively cutting us off from her.

"Man, why is she being so cruel?" Keitaro asked as we sat there for a few seconds.

"Well Keitaro-san, she does have a lot of reasons for doing so I suppose..." I said flatly as Keitaro sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right..." Keitaro said as we both sighed.

"Hey, how about this, tomorrow we'll be more careful!" I said as Keitaro looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, we're the managers, well I am, you're the care taker, of this place, its time we start acting like it!" Keitaro said, his voice filled with newly restored vigor.

"Yeah, tomorrow we'll make this entire day up to everyone!" I shouted as Keitaro shook his head furiously. "Alright then first thing we'll do is..." I began saying as I told Keitaro of the plan. Meanwhile in the room above Naru was holding her ear to the floor, listening to us talk, she stopped listening after I began telling Keitaro about the plan, afterall she actually, ACTUALLY, wanted to be suprised. She walked over to her futon and layed down in it.

"Heh. Maybe they aren't screw ups afterall." Naru said as she began dozing off into the night.

OMAKE

I opened the door to the shop to find that it looked almost exactly like it did the last time I was here, buisness really wasn't booming. I walked up to the counter and rang the bell twice, and the same man from yesterday walked out. "Alright your orders done, just take off your clothes in the changing room and come to the back room." He said as I raised my eyebrow.

"Why?" I asked as he just sighed.

"So you can try them on, afterall if there are any flaws in then I need to be able to see them right?" He asked as I thought about it for a minute.

"I... guess you're right." I said as I walked into the changing area and changed out of my clothes and then walked back out. When I did the guy was no where in sight.

"I'm in the back room, just hurry up so you can pay me." He said as I nodded and walked back there. When I did I didn't see him, or my order, all I saw was this giant hole that wasn't there when I was last here.

"Sir, I don't see you anywhere, all I see is this ho-aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!" I said as I fell into the hole, fell to the very bottom. I laid at the bottom of the hole for a second before I stood up and dusted myself off. "Sir could you help me I think I tripped and fell into the..." I said as I looked up and saw the man, now wearing a women's dress, make-up, a wig, and carrying a little white dog. "Uuummmmm... nice get up." I said as he threw something at my head. "OW! WHAT DID YOU... skin lotion?" I said as I read the lable on the bottle. "What do I need this for?" I asked as he sneered.

"It puts the lotion on its skin!" He shouted as a giant sweat drop appeared on the back of my head.

"Why would I need lotion my skin is already so silky smoo..." I began saying as all of a sudden a giant stream of water hit me, and soaked me to the bone. "WHAT THE HELL?!!?!?" I screamed, just about having enough of this weirdo.

"It puts the lotion on its skin or else it get the hose again!" The man said while holding a giant hose, pointed at me.

"Alright, alright, I'm puting the lotion on my skin so I don't get the hose again!!!" I screamed as the guy smiled and then started licking his dog. "Okay, I did not need to see that." I said as he glared at me and then pointed to my side.

"It puts the lotion in the basket!" He said as I followed his finger to a basket beside me. I smirked as I looked up and saw him holding the rope that would hoist up the basket.

"Okay, sure, I'll put SOMETHING in the basket." I said as I threw the bottle of lotion at his head, causing him to drop the rope into the hole. "FREEDOM!!!" I shouted as I jumped into the basket and pulled my way up. The guy was just getting up when I reached the top of the hole, and then ran over him. I put on my clothes quickly and ran out of that tailor shop, swearing to never go back again. I got all the way back to Hinata Sou and I saw everyone there waiting right there for me. "Guy, and girls, you won't believe what just happened!" I said as Motoko held her blade to my throat. "WHAT NOW?!!?!?" I asked as Motoko put her finger on my face, and then glared at me.

"Why are you wearing... skin lotion..." She said as her eyes became demonic.

"Well you see.." I began rubbing the back of my head. "It is a funny story that it is..." I said as I felt Motoko get angrier.

"I'M SURE IT IS PERVERT!!!" Motoko shouted as she, Kitsune, Shinobu, and Su began jumping on me, beating me in the worst ways possible.

REVIEW!!!!!!


	5. The Morning After

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper.

Now then people, this will be the last chapter before this story completely overtakes LHMNWL and becomes, in itself, the new story.

So let's get on a roll and get on with the last reconstructed chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Chapter 5: The Morning After

It was early in the morning when Keitaro and I woke up. I hit the snooze button on our alarm clock and sat up. I groggily looked at the clock and saw that it was 3:00 in the morning. Last night Keitaro and I figured that to try and get on the girl's good sides again we were going to have to do something pretty big. That pretty big thing we have planned is simple, yet very taxing. Do all of the chores, and cook breakfast for the Hinata Sou tenants before Keitaro has to leave for his prep school later on. I walked over to Keitaro's futon and began shaking it.

"Keitaro-san, Keitaro-san! Wake up." I said as I heard a yawn come from under the covers and Keitaro stuck his head out of the futon.

"Is it that time already." Keitaro said as he yawned.

"Yep it is, now come on, we gotta get dressed." I said as Keitaro stood up, and began stretching himself out. I walked over to my closet and put on one of my weighted training robes. After taking a few minutes to actually get it on, and get used to the weight, I turned around to see Keitaro try to put on a pair of jeans. He was trying to stick one of his legs in a pant hole, when he fell over onto the ground. I began laughing lightly as Keitaro rubbed his head and then put the pair of jeans on.

As Keitaro finished dressing we both walked outside of our room and stood out in the hallway for a few seconds. We looked at each other, nodded, and then walked down opposite ends of the hall. We decided to split up the chores so we could get them done faster. Keitaro would go down to the laundry room, get the washing machine ready, and take some clothes out of the dryer and fold them. Meanwhile I would sneak into the girl's rooms, and pick up any stray clothing that may be just laying around... I really didn't want to do it, but we flipped a coin... damn...

I walked to Su's room first, I figured that chances would be that she wouldn't kill me, or alert everyone else, if she saw me in her room. The worst she would do is try to give me a kick in the head, and then go back to bed... I hoped. I walked to her door, and left a clothes bin beside her door. I then walked into her room and looked around her jungle of a room. I picked up any pieces of stray clothes that may have been laying around, while keeping an eye out for Su...

I kept an eye out, and a constant watch for ki signatures, I couldn't really trust my ki senses since Su was most likely asleep. I picked up the last, visable, piece of cloth and went on my way out. As I walked outside her room, all of her laundry in my arms, I put it in a clothes bin that I had brought with me. I then walked to the room next door... possibly the most dangerous room, next to Naru's, in the house. Motoko's room, no man's land. I stood outside the door, and put the clothes bin down beside me. I swallowed a huge lump in my throat, for I knew that if I were to be caught by Motoko I would die faster than Ghandi after being shot (OH NO HE DIDN'T).

It was a really simple room when you looked at it. The only really unique thing about it was the samurai armor in the corner of the room. I looked around and saw Motoko sleeping in her futon, with Su in her futon right beside her, looking like she was squeezing the life out of her, so that's why I didn't see her in her room... this scene would have been cute had I not been in danger at the moment. I began sneaking my way through I picked up any stray pieces of clothing, which was considerably less than in Su's room, off of Motoko's floor.

Suddenly as I was almost done Motoko began stirring. I froze and then began looking myself over... I was wearing a brightly colored robe in a pitch black room, my hair is not exactly a color you could hide easily... basically if she even looked in my general direction I was screwed. I began looking around frantically, looking for some kind of hiding place. Then I saw Motoko's samurai armor, and I smiled a bright smile as I sped towards it.

General POV

Motoko sat up with a look of slight anger and determination on her face. She got Su off of her, and then she stood up and looked around her room. She began walking over to a rack that was hanging over her dresser, and pulled the sword off of the rack. She unsheathed her sword, and held it out in front of her. She walked around the room, tapping objects with her sword. She walked over to the samurai armor, and she tapped it. When it shook more than it should have...

"HA! I found you!" She shouted as she cut the head off of the armor. As the head hit the floor, and showed nothing coming out of the top of the armor, no head, no hair, no blood. Motoko raised an eyebrow and put her sword back into her sheath. "Must've been my imagination." Motoko muttered as she put her sheathed sword back onto its rack, and laid back down into her futon, allowed Su to engulf her in a back breaking hug, and fell back asleep.

Kenshin POV

As she snored lightly, my head popped out of the top of the chest of the armor and I looked around. "Wow, it is a good thing I'm so short, that it is." I muttered to myself as I climbed out of the armor, carrying the bundle of clothes out with me. I picked up the last of the clothes and then snuck out of the room. I sighed a sigh of relief and victory as I put the clothes in the clothes bin and began making my way down the hall to Naru's room. I wasn't quite as worried with Naru as I was with Motoko's, the worst Naru would do is punch me square in the jaw and call me a pervert for the next few days. I stood outside Naru's door, put the clothes down beside of it, and quietly snuck in.

I looked around Naru's room, and frankly it looked like it had been hit by a hurricane, no scratch that, make that two hurricanes. There were clothes, pieces of trash, old food, soda cans, paper plates, books, and almost every other kind of mess you could think of scattered around the floor. I sighed as I walked out the door, only to return shortly after with trash bags, and cleaning supplies with me. I quietly made my way around Naru's room, but then I heard the most horrifying sound of my entire life...

"What are you doing in my room?" I heard a voice sounding like Naru say behind the giant pile of trash. I looked above it and say Naru staring at me with a raised eyebrow, she had a few books open. She must've been staying up studying... was school really this hard, I mean what Hiko put me through, I'm pretty sure that other methods of schooling would be easy, I mean reading a book while doing push-ups was hard! I started sweating crazily as I thought of a way to get out of this situation. And then an idea came to me as I smirked.

"Go back to bed, your hallucinating from a lack of sleep due to your all night cram session." I said as I waved my hand in front of my face, like a Jedi, thank God Hiko loved those weirdo American movies, as Naru raised her eyebrow even higher.

"Alright then, prove it." Naru said as I began panicking again. I tried to find a way, a way to come out of this. I then got another idea that made me smirk once again. I drew out my sword, and swallowed it. Naru stared at me with eyes as wide as dinner plates as I put the sword in, and out, in, and out.

"If I were real, would I be able to do this?" I said as Naru just continued staring at me and I turned to her, showing the sword going straight into my mouth.

"Okay yeah, I'm hallucinating." She said as she closed her books and went over to her futon and laid herself down in it.

"Yes you are, now just go to sleep, and not wake up till morning." I said as I once again waved my hand in front of my face as she nodded, and then fell asleep. I chuckled lighly as I turned my head to the side, showing me just pushing my sword up and down my cheek (kinda how you make it look like you swallow an entire knife when you really don't). I snickered as I began cleaning up Naru's room, putting all of her books on the shelf, and all of her trash in the several trash bags I brought with me. I then picked up the clothes hanging around her room, and held them in my arms. As I finished I sighed quietly, very quietly, and then snuck out of Naru's room with filled trash bags, and bundles of clothes hanging from my arms.

I got outside and walked over to the ledge of the hallway, I threw the trash bags over the side so that they landed near the front door, I would take them to the curb when the trash collector would arrive later. I then put Naru's laundry into the bin, and made my way down the stairs. I walked down the halls that normally led to mine and Keitaro's room, but is time I walked past our room, and stood outside the door of Kitsune's room.

I figured that Kitsune's room would be filthy beyond belief so I had already gotten the cleaning supplies I had used in Naru's room and brought them back down with me.

I placed the now, at least, half-way full clothes bin to my side as I stared at Kitsune's room. She wouldn't kill me if she saw me most likely, but she would tell everyone else, and Naru and Motoko would kill me... so I'll be keeping it safe in her room. I sighed lightly as I prepared to enter Kitsune's room, for the second time in my stay at Hinata Sou. As I walked in I noticed that it wasn't as bad as Naru's room, it wasn't perfect, but not nearly as bad as Naru's room. I walked around the room, picking up random Sake bottles, avoiding loose floorboards that would alert Kitsune of me being in her room.

Speaking of Kitsune, I saw her laying in her futon near the other side of the room. Her back was faced to me so I really couldn't make out what she was doing. I collected all of the bottles of Sake, and the clothes scattered about the room, and made my way out the door.

General POV

As I shut the door Kitsune sat up in bed and turned towards the door. She had a Sake bottle in her hand, which was mostly full, so she had to have been drinking before I walked in. She looked at the door with a raised eyebrow and then looked around her clean room. She shrugged and finished off her bottle of Sake, and then threw it into the trash. "Good kid isn't he?" She muttered as she layed back down in her futon and back to sleep.

Kenshin POV

As I made way through the halls of Hinata Sou, to the last room of the night, I stayed ever vigilant of my surroundings. Even though Shinobu in no way would try to hurt me should she see me, she would scream, and that would alert Naru and Motoko, and they would beat me to a bloody pulp. It isn't that I don't enjoy being beaten once a day, it's just I don't think I can handle a beating this early in the morning. Now then, I finally reached Shinobu's room, which was half-way across the house from Kitsune's room, I layed down the clothes bin, and made my way into her room.

Shinobu's room wasn't a room I had seen before, and I gotta tell you, it was pretty clean. Not much other than a couple of cloths laid about the room. I saw Shinobu towards the corner of the room... it was actually a sad sight to see. She was asleep, but there were tear stains going down her face, and she was gripping onto a stuffed animal. I sighed lightly as I picked up the last of the clothes on the floor. I looked up and saw a calender hanging on her wall. It had the fifteenth of this month circled in red marker. I walked closer to it, but there was no sign to indicate what the date was about... I'd have to ask Haruka about it later... I left the room, giving one last glance to Shinobu before doing so.

I put the last of the clothes in the bin, and then picked it up. I made my way down the halls to the last flight of stairs to the first floor. I walked through the halls of the first floor to the laundry room, where I saw Keitaro folding the last of the dry, clean clothes, and then put it into the basket. He looked at me with the bin and then smirked.

"So I guess that everything went without a hitch?" Keitaro said cheekily as I nodded.

"Yes, Naru and Motoko almost caught me when I went into their room but..." I said as I laid the dirty laundry in front of the washing machine. "I managed to slip out without much trouble." I said as I smirked at Keitaro.

"Well then I'll get to work on these, how about you start getting to work on the rest of the house, I'll join you after a while." Keitaro said as I nodded and left the room. I was being worked like a dog... but hey, I am living here for free, besides I'm used to doing chores, Hiko had me do some for training... but only with certain twists... I bet no one else in the world had to hang wet clothes on a drying wire while being hung by your legs over a waterfall...

I made it to the cleaning supplies closet while thinking about the, what could be considered, torture that Hiko put me through during my training. I got the broom out and then began sweeping the halls. I kept on thinking about everything I remembered of Hiko's training... the back breaking beatings with a boken... the straining exercise while studying... the terrible combination of chores and exercise... it was practically hell on Earth...

'Man I'm really trailing off here, better get back on track.' I thought to myself as I shook my head. I found myself on the third floor, as far as I could see the halls were swept clean. I sighed as slung the broom over my shoulder as I made my way back downstairs. I began thinking about the future. The fact that I was the grounds keeper at an All-Girls Dormitory would mean that there was almost a one-hundred percent chance of getting beaten. And I don't mean beaten, but beaten hard, but hey, that's life. I put the broom back into the closet and walked to the kitchen. I saw Keitaro getting out several different cooking supplies, I smirked as I walked over to the counter, now filled with several different appliances and uncooked foods. "You think you can handle this?" Keitaro said as I tied an apron around my waste.

"Well Keitaro-san, I did cook for an Irish bar owner, I'll explain later." I said as Keitaro raised an eyebrow. "For several months! OBSERVE!" I said as I began twirling the cooking instruments around. I first through the whisk at a frying pan, the metal part hitting the pan's handle. The whisk deflected back into my hand, but at the same time the pan flew into the air. I through the knife up into the air, and put the whisk into my other hand as I caught the pan by the handle, and then put it on the stove. I then caught the knife with my empty hand as it came down.

I then threw the knife back into the air I tossed the whisk into a pot of miso soup and began stirring the miso as I grabbed a few eggs with my free hand and cracked them on the edge of the pan, and put the yolks into the pan. I then pulled the whisk out of the miso soup and then began breaking up the eggs. I caught the knife with my free hand and began slicing up a nearby piece of cheese, after I cut three pieces I slid my knife under them and put them in with the eggs, I them used the knife to cut up some ham and put that in with the egg/cheese mix as well, and continued stirring.

I then used the knife to cut up some carrots, first into slices, then I cut those in half, and put them into the miso soup. I stuck the knife into a nearby cutting board and began adding some seasoning into the miso soup. After the seasons were added I grabbed a large spoon on the counter, used it to stir the soup, and then took a taste.

"Bleh! Needs garlic powder." I said as I threw the spoon into the air, grabbed the garlic powder, added a few dashes of it into the soup, and then placed it back on the desk. I caught the spoon as it came down, and then remixed the soup again. I took another taste of the soup.

"Mmmm..mm. That's good." I said as I placed the spoon back on the counter. Keitaro simply stared at me wide-eyed as I took the pan with the, now, ham and cheese omelete and took it over to the table. "Keitaro could you help me set up the table?" I asked as Keitaro nodded and the two of us began setting up the table with bowls, plates, glasses, and utensils. After everything was set up I looked at the time, it was about six, we could start putting the breakfast out.

So I began putting the omeletes onto their plates, and pouring the miso soup into bowls. I also began pouring some juice from a carton in the fridge into everyone's, except Kitsune's, glass. In Kitsune's glass.. I looked around as I opened up my robe to reveal a small bottle of Sake in a pocket on the inside of my robe. It was a original Sake that Hiko sent for me to test out. One of the reasons I was so resistant to alchohol was that Hiko would test all of his new Sakes on me.

Now you may be thinking 'Why would he need to test Sake on a kid when there were plently of adults around?' Well, you imagine if some swordsman cop came up to you and said 'Hey wanna try my own original Sake, it has never been tested on anything before!' Could you honestly say that you would drink it. So Hiko tested it on me, since I was little I didn't quite understand the repercussions of under-aged drinking (mainly me getting drunk in under one drink, and then having a HUGE hangover afterwards).

Despite the hangovers, I actually enjoyed testing Hiko's Sake, most of them were amazing. I held his most recent creation, I was to try it out and then write to him on the results. But hey, why possibly get drunker than a skunk, especially in a place where I could get my ass kicked if I did anything weird, when I could test it out on the resident drunk, Kitsune. I poured the Sake into the glass and then threw the empty bottle into the trash. I then began cutting bananas on top of Su's omelete, and in her miso soup.

"Umm... Kenshin-san." Keitaro said as both of his eyebrows were raised. "Why are you, cutting bananas on that omelete, and in that miso..." Keitaro said as I stopped for a moment.

"Well Keitaro-san, it is Su-chan we're talking about here." I said as Keitaro took on a thoughtful look.

"Good point." Keitaro said as he finished up setting up the table.

Keitaro and I yawned exhaustedly as we looked at the clock. It was 6:20 when we were finished, and we were both tired as hell. "Well Keitaro-san we are finally finished..." I said while yawning, meanwhile Keitaro only nodded while nodding off in response. I looked at the couch and chairs in the living room with a gleeful look in the next moment. "Maybe we could just..." I said as I walked over to the couch. "rest our eyes until the girls wake up." I said as Keitaro nodded and sat on a chair and closed his eyes. The second my body hit that couch I was out like a light.

General POV

One by one the girls, except Shinobu, made it to the second floor stairs, all of them seemingly dazed. They all looked at each other, a raised eyebrow and suprised look on each of their faces. "Were your rooms clean up when you all woke up too?" Naru asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah." Su said, the normally hyper-active foreigner somewhat hummbled by the, somewhat, strange event.

"Yep, I mean, who could have possibly cleaned up my room?" Kitsune asked in a fake ignorance while she stifled several chuckles. Then all of a sudden Shinobu ran up the stairs, her face containing even more shock then anyone's.

"Shinobu-chan, something wrong?" Motoko asked as she watched the young teen try to catch her breath.

"Yes... kinda... I came down this morning, and the breakfast was already cooked." She said while all of the girl's kinda stared at her. "And the laundry was done..." Shinobu said as the girl's staring eyes grew a little wider. "And all the halls were swept." Shinobu said making the girl's jaws drop (well all except Kitsune). They all then ran down the stairs to see the breakfast I cooked all layed out on the table. Naru ran, no ran isn't the right word, sprinted down the halls. When she came back she was breathing deeply.

"Sh-sh-she's right... the laundry is all done..." Naru said, panting in between her words. Everyone stared at her while Motoko tapped her chin, staring off in a random direction while in deep thought.

"Who could have..." She began saying as the sounds of light snoring came to everyone's attention. They looked over to the living area to where the sounds were coming from. They all walked over to see me, sleeping on the couch, and Keitaro, spawled out on a chair. Soon my arms and legs began twitching as Su stared.

"Awww... he's dreaming that he's running." She said while everyone at that one moment stared at Keitaro's and my prone forms, realizing who did all of this. Then they heard the sound of food being eaten at an inhuman rate. They all turned around to see Su scarfing down her omelete.

"NO WAIT SU-CHAN! Those perverts may have put roofies into the food!" Motoko shouted as Su stopped.

"What are roofies... are they yummy?" Su said making everyone face vault. As Motoko stood up and was about the shout out at Su again when Kitsune began speaking.

"Well they can be depending on what you add them in..." Kitsune said as she got into a thinking position.

"KITSUNE-SAN!!!" Motoko shouted as Su smiled.

"Yay! And these eggs and soup things are really good so..." Su said as she raised her fork and knife high. "TIME TO EAT YOU! YOU LITTLE ROOFIES!!!" Su said as she began diving into the food laid out for her. Motoko and the others (except Naru and Kitsune who knew better) looked on in horror as Su scooped up the omelete and swallowed it in one bite, then grabbed the bowl full of miso soup and chugged it all down in a few seconds, and finally grabbed the glass and chugged down the juice in one second. Then, all of a sudden, Su froze in place, her body completely still. The tenants of Hnata Sou were worried, normally Su would be bouncing off the walls after her meals. Motoko walked up to Su and poked her.

"Su?" Motoko said as she poked Su again, only this time Su fell backwards from her chair onto the floor. "SU!" Motoko shouted as she kneeled down to the body of Su. Shinobu ran over to check on Su too, while Kitsune and Naru stood there shocked.

'Maybe they really did add roofies...' They both thought as Motoko and Shinobu shook Su. Then, as they shook her, a light fell upon Su, and in the light, a little chibi angel Su appeared, strumming a harp as it flapped its wings. The chibified angel Su floated there for a second, with what appeared to be tears of joy in her eyes, as she descended back into her body. Su then shot up, shocking all of the tenants, and had a huge smile with tears coming out of her eyes.

"That was the best meal ever!!! Motoko can I have some of yours!?" Su asked as she jumped back into her chair and took half of Motoko's breakfast and began eating it. The tenants all looked at her with a shocked expression as they all took their seats.

'Is this meal really that great?' They all thought as they sat down and took a bite of their meals. All of a sudden they all stopped, they were frozen for a split second... but after that they dived into their food, eating as fast as Su did. As everyone finished Motoko went for the last piece of her omelete, only to have Su's chopsticks go for it too. They both glared at each other before Motoko hit Su over the head and took the piece of omelete for herself.

"Sorry Su, but I am an heir to a ancient sword style, and I need this more than you do." Motoko said as she was about to eat the last piece of her meal. But then there was a spoon, positioned so she couldn't close her mouth, shoved in and Su had the piece of omelete.

"Sorry Motoko, but I am a growing genius, and I need to get taller. You don't need this, heck you're already, what like 6 feet tall?" Su said cheekily as she was about to eat the piece of omelete, only to recieve a strike on the head from the blunt part of Motoko's sword. Su rubbed her head as Motoko held her piece of omelete.

"For your information I am only 175 cm (that's like... crap...5 foot 8 or 9 inches?) a perfectly good height!" Motoko said as she was about to eat the piece of omelete, only to have a banana shoved in her mouth (no perverted thoughts people, stay with me) and Su holding the piece of omelete.

"Yeah, well compared to you I'm a midget so I need this more!" Su shouted as she was about to eat the omelete piece before Motoko took it. Motoko was about to take a bite before Su stole it again. Then Motoko stole it, then Su, then Motoko, then Su, Motoko, Su, Motoko, Su, then all hell broke loose. Motoko jumped on top of Su, and they began fighting over the piece of omelete. Naru and Kitsune just stared in disbelief at what they were seeing.

"They are acting like kids..." Naru said as she shook her head as she watched Motoko and Su battle to the death over a piece of omelete.

"Yeah, it's a good thing that we are such mature, and wise adults. We would never allow such a stupid thing to happen right?" Kitsune said as she nodded her head.

"Right." Naru said as she went for her last piece of omelete as well, only to see Kitsune's chopsticks grab it as well. They both glared at each other for a time before Naru pulled back on the omelete. "I thought you said we were such mature, and wise adults Kitsune..." Naru said as a tiny vein appeared on her forehead. Kitsune, however, pulled back on the piece of omelete.

"That's right, and as a mature adult you should let me have this, afterall I need the energy to do my freelance writing." Kitsune said as she pulled back on the piece of omelete, while Naru pulled back on it even harder.

"Freelance writing?! Ha! The only thing I see you do is drink Sake and bet on horse races! Besides, I need this for energy to study so I can get into Tokyo U!" Naru said as the vein on her forehead began throbbing and on also appeared on Kitsune's forehead as she pulled back on the omelete piece again.

"Jeez naru give it a rest, you're way to smart for your own good anyway! You get any smarter you're going to be a supernerd!" Kitsune said as they veins on both their heads doubled in size.

"SUPERNERD?! Well you shouldn't eat this, afterall you've been complaining about all those pounds you been gaining. Eat or drink anymore and you'll be fatter than a balloon!" Naru said as Kitsune's eyes shot open.

"Alright that's it! IT'S GO TIME!!!" Kitsune said as she jumped on top of Naru and the two began fighting inside a giant dust cloud.

Shinobu simply stood to the side in fear as she watched the other members of Hinata Sou fight, herself reduced to the size of a chibi-Shinobu. Kitsune jumped quickly out of her could, light bruises covering her face. She brought her elbow up, gave it a quick slap, and then jumped into the cloud, the sound of a solid bone hitting flesh, along with an 'OW' heard inside the cloud. Then Naru came out of the cloud with a huge lump on top of her head. She rolled up her sleeves and dived back into the cloud.

Then all of a sudden Motoko and Su jumped out of their clouds, Motoko armed with her sword, and Su armed with a heat-seaking rocket launcher. They stared each other down before Motoko struck. "Shinmeiryuu: Zankousen (Way of Gods' Cries: Light Cleaving Flash)!" Motoko shouted as she swung her sword and sent a wave a ki towards Su. Su rolled out of the way and armed her rocket.

"HA! Now I'm gonna get you with this HEAT SEAKING MISSLE!!!" Su shouted as she launched her rocket, only to have it do a U-turn and begin following the wave of ki... that was heading straight towards the couch I was on. Everyone stopped fighting as they watched the missle and ki wave slowly head towards the couch I was on.

Kenshin POV

They all heard a yawn coming from the couch as my head peeked over the side, my eyes drooping. "What's with all the racket..." I said as I suddenly saw the ki wave and rocket and my eyes became wide as a dinner plate. "Oh my..." I said as the ki wave and rocket hit me at the same time. The explosion that followed caused me to fly through the ceiling of the room, the ceiling of the second floor, the ceiling of the third floor, the attic, and finally the roof of the house. "WHY MEEEEEEEEEEE!?!!?!!?!?!?!??!?!" I cried as I fly higher and higher into the sky until I was just a little dot. The girls looked out the window the second that I began falling back to Earth. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed as I fell into the hot springs, hundreds of gallon of water shooting up into the sky.

After a few seconds of being dazed, I shook my head and saw that I was laying on top of an empty hot spring... that was ordinarilly filled with water... I looked up to see all of the spring water going up.. and then slowly start falling down again. "Oh dear God no!" I shouted as all of the water hit the entire area, refilling the hot springs. After a minute my still body rose to the surface, my front facing up. "Uhhhhhh." I moaned as my body just floated on the surface of the water. I stayed there for a second before the tenants of Hinata Sou, minus Su, came rushing into the spring. Su came in a few seconds later... her mouth covered in omelete... cold omelete...

At any rate, they carried my body back to where I had fallen asleep. They laid me down onto the (practically ruined) coach. They heard a yawn coming from the chair and saw Keitaro waking up. Keitaro looked around at the destruction, and then looked at the girls and I with a raised eyebrow. "Did I miss anything?" Keitaro said as everyone in the room, minus me and Su, face vaulted while Su proceeded to tell Keitaro what he had missed.

As Su finished Keitaro's eyes had grown as wide as saucers as he looked at everyone else. "How did he survive that!?" Keitaro said while thinking about everything Su had just told him.

'I thought I was the only one that was invincible...' Keitaro thought as he looked at me, out cold on the couch. Kitsune walked over to the table, which everyone's dirty dishes were still on, and picked up her still full glass of Hiko's Sake.

"I didn't get to drinking this sue to our little fights, so this may help him out." Kitsune said as she had Shinobu and Motoko pick my head up (I still had the weights on) and she poured the Sake down my throat. When all of it went down my throat nothing appened for a few seconds... but then I shot up, my cheeks began glowing red as I shakily stood up and moved across the room. I walked into a lamp, bumping into it and stummbling a bit.

"Ssshorry misshhh, I didn't sshhee you there..." I said slurring all of my words as I continued stummbling about the room, the everyone looking at me with looks of sheer confusion on their faces. I turned to Motoko and got close up to her, so close our noses were practically touching.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh!!!?!?" Motoko stuttered as she blushed and tried to back up.

"What'shhhh the matter Motoko-ssshhhhan? Freezer got your tongue...?" I asked as I stummbled around.

"That doesn't even make any sense..." Motoko said as I began laughing a little.

"Neither doessshhhhhh your face!! OHHHH! You walked right into that one... AAHH HAHAHAHAHA!!!" I said as I began laughing in a drunken stupor and I ran around the room. Everyone just stared at me with a huge sweatdrop on the back of her head.

"Do you think he hit his head a little too hard?" Naru said as they watched me stumble around.

"Maybe." Kitsune said as she looked at the drink in her hand. She took a quick taste before her eyes widened. "This isn't water, or juice! Its Sake!" Kitsune said as everyone just looked at her with a 'And... you're worried about that?' kinda look. Kitsune looked over her shoulder to see a empty Sake bottle. She picked it up, tilted it over, and a tiny note fell out. Kitsune picked up the note and read it aloud. "Five minute Sake hangover, gives you the experience of an all night drinking session in five minutes, no matter how resistant to Sake you are..." She said as everyone sweat dropped as she read it. "P.S. This is for hypnotizing me and my friend into giving him a lap dance (me and my best friend hypnotized our brothers into doing this once... it was ing hilarious) ..." Kitsune said making everyone in the room blush. "Yours truly, Hiko Seijuro XXVII." Kitsune read the final part aloud while everyone heard a sudden thud.

They all turned around to see me on the ground, holding my head with both of my hands, groaning and moaning. "Damn you old man... tormenting me even after I leave..." I groaned out as everyone helped me to a chair and Kitsune prepared a pot of coffee for me. Kitsune handed me the coffee and I began drinking. Even though I absolutely hate the taste of coffee, I needed something to help me with this hangover. We all sat there for a few minutes before the hangover passed. As it did everyone, one by one, thanked us for the meal given to them, and the chores done.

"Umm... Ke-Kenshin-kun." Shinobu said quietly, so my head wouldn't start pounding. I turned to her and smiled.

"Yes Shinobu-chan?" I asked, causing her to blush lightly again.

"I-I was wondering if you would like to switch cooking days every now and then... your food was really good..." Shinobu said as I smiled and ruffled her head with the hand not holding onto my head.

"Sure Shinobu-chan." I said, but Shinobu couldn't hear it over her thoughts about me touching her (no, bad perverts!). As a few more minutes went by Keitaro and Naru looked up at the clock, both of them began panicking and they both ran upstairs. I suddenly heard rummaging around in the floor above us... and then I heard someone trip... and then Keitaro's head popped out of the top of the ceiling, scaring everyone currently in the living room. As he pulled his head up I heard Naru ran in, I couldn't see her leave, since I was looking up towards the ceiling, the hangover leaving me unable to raise my body.

Minutes later I heard Keitaro run down, he was stumbling around as he ran. "Hey where ya headin'?" Kitsune said as Keitaro ran to the store.

"Jah-Jah-Moh Tutor School!" I heard Keitaro say as the door finally closing. I sat up, and then looked at Kitsune, her eyes opened as she stared at the door.

"Is something wrong..." I asked as Kitsune looked at me.. and then started smirking.

"Oh no... it's just that Keitaro-san left his lunch here." She said pointing to a brown paper bag on the counter. "Could you be a hun and get that to him for me?" She asked as she winked at me, and I blushed slightly. "You heard Keitaro, right? He goes to Jah-Jah-Moh Tutor School..." She said as she watched me get up pick up the bag and then make my way to the door. "Wait?! You need to know which train route to take!" She shouted as I turned and smiled at her.

"Well Kitsune-san, I never had the chance to get my morning run in this morning, and I've been around this town so often, I think that I know where to go. See ya later Kitsune-san." I said as I ran out the door, leaving everyone to stare at my back.

General POV

"He's definetly weird..." Kitsune muttered aloud as everyone nodded. Kitsune began heading for the stair, but stopped and looked back towards the door. "Weird... but cool..." She said while walking back up the stairs.

Kenshin POV

I ran through the town with Keitaro's lunch in my hand and the wind in my hair. I took swift turns, twists, and even jumped over some fences, in order to try to get to Keitaro's school. There were a few people I bumped into, those people either stared at me as they watched me move faster than an Olympic sprinter, while others just chose to sling some curses at me for being 'a rude asshole', and other words that I would not repeat. I reached the entrance of the school and looked around to find no sign of Keitaro. After a few minutes I heard a gasp behind me as I turned to see Keitaro just staring at me.

"But you were... and I was... and you were... how did you get here before me?" Keitaro asked as I put the brown paper bag in front of him.

"You forgot this back at Hinata Sou... and it seems you underestimate just how fast I am." I said as I smiled and Keitaro joined in, though his was a bit more nervous. "So this is your Prep School?" I asked as Keitaro nodded.

"Yeah this is it." He said as we both looked up to see the building.

"Mind if I join you today?" I suddenly asked as Keitaro raised his eyebrows at me.

"Why?" Keitaro asked, as I turned and looked him square in the eyes and smiled.

"Well, Hiko-san would hate for me to get behind on my studies..." I said as Keitaro nodded, and I remembered Hiko's threat...

_"If you become an uneducated hic like the kids in West Virginia, U.S.,_(I can't resist making a joke about where I come from, sorry)_ I'll personally come over, and force you back into my training/teaching regiment!" Hiko shouted as I became chibi-fied._

I shuddered as I stood there, Keitaro raising an eyebrow at me as I returned from my thoughts. "Besides I really don't have much else to do." I said as Keitaro nodded and we both began running into the school.

"My name is Keitaro Urashima, sorry for being late---!" Keitaro shouted as he threw open the door and began running in.. until he hit heads with a girl wearing... a mini-skirt, a sweatshirt with 'Salem' on it, coke-lense glasses, and pigtails... I had to say it was an... interesting look... Keitaro and the girl stood there for a minute, both of them a bit disoriented by the head bump. "Sorry I was in a hurry, are you alright." Keitaro said as the girl looked up, suddenly blushed, and then ran off. Keitaro and I just watched as she ran, both of our eyebrows threatening to tear off of our faces. "What's up with her?" Keitaro asked as I shrugged.

"Good morning Keitaro, late for Prep Exam as usual... hey, who's you're friend?" We suddenly heard behind us as a tall man, with a 'Tahiti' shirt on, as well as rather small glasses, came over and rubbed Keitaro's hair while a slightly shorter looking version of the tall man, except he had larger glasses, and was wearing a sweat shirt. "Come on Keitaro, aren't you going to at least introduce us?" The tall one asked as the smaller one just nodded and smiled.

"Hey Haitani." Keitaro said turning to the tall one. "Hey Shirai." Keitaro said turning to the shorter one. "This is Kenshin Himura, Kenshin-san these are my two friends Haitani Masayuki and Shirai Kimiaki." Keitaro said as I looked back and forth between the two boys.

"Is something the matter?" They asked at the same time as I rubbed the back of my head.

"Well no, its just that you two look so much alike." I said as Shirai and Haitani looked at each other and laughed.

"Are you kidding? I'm way better looking than this guy!" Haitani said while Shirai looked at him like he was crazy.

"As if, I'm way better looking than you!" He said while Haitani turned to face him.

"No way, I am!" Haitani said while looking at Shirai.

"I am!" Shirai said while they both began glaring at each other.

"Wait! I know how to settle this!" Haitani said as a random girl walked by in the classroom. "Hey excuse me!" Haitani said, catching the girl's attention. "Who's better looking me, or him?" Haitani asked while pointing to himself and Shirai.

"Well to be completely honest, you're both pretty stupid looking to me." The girl said as she walked off, leaving Haitani and Shirai with their jaws on the floor while Keitaro began laughing so hard he fell out of his chair, while I walked over to the two and put a hand on each of their shoulders.

"There, there... everything will be okay..." I said as their heads dropped and they began turning around to get back to Keitaro.

"So Keitaro, what's with the week you took off man? I mean, do you really think you can afford it?" Shirai said as Keitaro blushed and then lowered his head.

"Thanks guys, I missed you too..." Keitaro said sarcastically as Shirai and Haitani just began chuckling.

"Well, you can't blame us dude, just look at the last Prep Exam results." Haitani said as Shirai pulled a huge list out of nowhere and onto the table.

"Here's your name right here." Shirai said, pointing to Keitaro's name which was third from the bottom.

"Ouch..." Haitani said as Keitaro scooped up the list and stared into it for a few minutes. Meanwhile my jaw was a little slack, do to the suprise of Keitaro's... unfortunate ranking. I f these 'Prep' Exams were true... Keitaro would need a lot of help. All of a sudden all of us heard the sound of pencil on paper, we turned to see the girl Keitaro had run into earlier just writing down notes in a notebook. "Man, class technically hasn't even started yet and she's off." Haitani said as we all looked at her.

"What's up with her?" Keitaro suddenly asked as Shirai leaned in closer to him.

"Don't you know who she is?" Shirai asked as Keitaro shook his head no. Shirai sighed and then explained. "She ranked first on the last National Prep Exam. She's actually pretty famous around here." Shirai said as Keitaro's eyes bugged out.

"NO WAY! FIRST IN THE NATIONAL PREP EXAM!?!?!? I didn't think people like that exist... of course they do but..." Keitaro said as I took a look.

"By the looks of it she works hard though. I mean watch, she's working diligently and without even being told by a teacher, or possibly parent. A person who pursues something on their own, without being told to do so, will be able to accomplish almost anything." I said as said girl listened in on the conversation and a smirk adorned her features.

"Her first choice is Tokyo U of course, so I guess when you're gunning for that you have to work hard." Shirai said while Keitaro nodded.

"Well with her ranking it shouldn't really be too much of a problem for her..." Keitaro said as Shirai and Haitani suddenly leaned in to whisper something into his ears, I decided to get in on it too.

"Oh yeah, Keitaro you haven't had a girlfriend in 19 years and 6 months right?" Haitani asked while I raised an eyebrow.

"You actually have the freetime to know that?" I asked as Haitani paled and started blathering out excuses, though none of them could be understood, while I simply sighed and nodded my head. "And you make fun of Keitaro-san, that isn't very fair of you." I said making Haitani slump over.

"Okay, so I haven't exactly had a girlfriend for a while either..." Haitani said while Shirai joined in with him.

"Besides, the 'Four-Eyed Study Couple' might make a good pair." Shirai said making both himself and Haitani going into a laughing fit. I suddenly sensed a disturbance in the area and looked to see the girl they were talking about trembling and actually break her pencil. Something told me that I may want to be careful with this so I decided that, while I was defending Keitaro, might as well defend her as well.

"Now come you two, you really shouldn't say things like that to other people, that you shouldn't. I mean you two aren't to much better than she is, Shirai-san with your glasses, practically the same as hers." I said as Shirai took of his glasses and looked at them and kinda froze, gaining a look on his face that just said 'they are the same...'. "And you Haitani-san, you yourself just said you haven't had a date for a while, so you shouldn't be talking about other's personal lives." I said as Haitani resumed his 'depressed' pose, the smirk on the girl's face growing wider.

"Yeah..." They both suddenly muttered as I felt the girl's ki begin to calm down.

"But..." I said as they all raised their heads. "Keitaro-san, you really should think about that. While I don't agree with the logic of Haitani-san and Shirai-san, it would be good for you. If you keep living for the past instead of focusing on today, and tomorrow for that matter, then you won't live a very healthy life Keitaro-san." I said, feeling slightly hypocrytical due to my own obsession with Enishi... but that was different... I think... isn't it?... of course it is. "Besides you shouldn't judge a person by what they 'first' look like." I said as Keitaro sighed.

"Yeah, but Kenshin-san... I just don't really think it would work." Keitaro said as the girl's ki perk up in agitation once more as I suddenly began chanting in my mind.

'Don't say anything stupid Keitaro-san, don't say anything stupid Keitaro-san. For the love of God, Keitaro-san don't say anything stupid.' I said, suddenly fearing for my life.

"I mean, I don't exactly come off as the greatest guy of all time. I'm not all that bright, afterall I'm being tutored by you!" Keitaro said while Shirai and Haitani looked at me with interested eyes.

"Home schooled." I said as Shirai and Haitani went 'oh' and then Keitaro continued.

"I'm not that good looking either, lot's of people on the street will think I'm still in High School.. and I'm practically twenty. I barely have any money and on top of that I'm a ronin. And what you said may be true Kenshin-san. I mean sure she looks like a bookworm now, but if you take off the glasses, let her hair down, and get her some different clothes, she could be pretty cute." Keitaro said as the girl suddenly blushed, and her ki dropped again and I sighed a sigh of relief, once again.

'Thank you Keitaro-san... thank you...' I thought as Keitaro suddenly sighed.

"I mean, why would girls see much in me, when I don't really see much in myself, you know?" Keitaro said as I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that Keitaro-san?" I asked as Keitaro sighed again.

"I mean, when I look at myself I see much that I don't like and wish I could change... and not too much that makes me proud, you know what I mean?" Keitaro asked as the memory of the yakuza thugs slaughtering my orphan friends flashed through my mind... that always brought about the feeling... the feeling... of weakness.

"Yes I understand exactly how you feel." I said as Keitaro's head dropped and the girl we had been talking about suddenly looked at us with a look of both pity, and understanding. While Shirai and Haitani put their hands on our shoulders.

"Hey now, come on you two. You shouldn't be putting yourselves down, that's our job." Haitani joked as a grin made its way to Keitaro's and my face.

"Besides, you still got us Keitaro... and I guess you do too Kenshin...san." Shirai said, reluctantly putting the suffix their.

"Yeah, we'll be the ronin... foursome." Haitani said as I raised my eyebrow.

"Foursome?" I asked as Shirai nodded.

"Yeah, if you have been home schooled, without going to college, that basically puts you at our level." Shirai said as I nodded.

"Alright then." I said as suddenly the girl we had been talking about suddenly got up and walked over.

"Excuse me, but can I borrow these two for a second." The girl said as she grabbed Keitaro and I my the sleeves.

"Huh?" We both got out before being pulled onto our backs, and being dragged by the girl.

"It won't take too long, just come with me." The girl said as she dragged us out of the room, leaving Shirai and Haitani with confused looks on their faces. I began panicking around the time she got us to the roof, her ki... it was scary when it was mad... wait, what!? As she dropped us on the rooftop I decided to take a better look at her... auburn colored hair... antennae at the front of her hair... sorta pale... scary ki... oh man... it couldn't be... it just couldn't. Keitaro just kinda stared for a minute before regrouping himself and talking.

"Look... if this is about me bumping into you I said I was sorry..." Keitaro said as I nudged him in the side and he looked at me while I mouthed the name of his two friends, it was hard for him to tell, since I was practically shaking in fear. "And if its about what my... our friends said, we're sorry about that too." Keitaro said.

"Its not what those two said that's bugging me, what you two said was sweet... but what I'm annoyed about is a certain something you two said..." The girl said as she turned to us and the image of a certain auburn haired girl punching me;

1. into the railway at the annex

2. At the entrance of Hinata Sou

And most recently, 3. From the ceiling of mine and Keitaro's room.

I literally lept onto the ground, crawled till I was in front of Naru, and put my hands together above my head, as I bowed by head. "Please, whatever it is we said, please forgive us, me, us. We did not mean to anger you! Please have pity!" I semi shouted as a sweat drop formed on the back of Keitaro's and Naru's heads.

"Ummm... Kenshin-san... what are you doing?" Keitaro asked as I crawled back to Keitaro, and pulled him down to my level.

"Keitaro-san, don't you recognize her?" I asked as Keitaro shook his head no and I began whispering into his ear. "It's Naru-san..." I said as Keitaro's eyes widened to the point where they busted clear out of the lens of his glasses, and he then he leapt in front of Naru and got into the same poistion I was in moments ago.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, US, ME! WE, I, WE DIDN'T MEAN WHAT WE SAID, WHATEVER IT WAS!" Keitaro said as I leapt beside him and got into the same position.

"Please, SPARE US!!!" We both shouted as Naru's sweat drop doubled in size.

NARU POV

I stared at those two as they sat there, begging me for forgiveness. I didn't think they were that afraid of me, but by the looks of it I put the fear of God into them... I don't understand why Keitaro's so scared, I haven't even touched him, but Kenshin... I can understand. I tried to decided what to do, I could just play up the drum of the moment and have them kiss my feet, but it is so sad to see a grown man, and a teenage boy beg and plead. I'll ease their poor minds.

Kenshin POV

As Keitaro and I begged we heard Naru clear her throat, we looked up to see her taking off her glasses. "You two calm down." She said as we backed up back to where we were and stood up again. "You two didn't insult me, it was more or less what you said about yourselves." Naru said making Keitaro and I raise our eyebrows and look at her with a 'Really?' kinda of look. "I mean Keitaro, you're practically your own worst enemy!" Naru shouted as Keitaro who ducked his head. "And you!" She shouted as she pointed at me.

"Me?! What did I do!??!" I asked as she lowered her finger.

"Nothing, you have a clean slate." Naru said as a shiver went up and down my spine.

'Woah, deja vu.' I thought as I was reminded of the night Naru revealed that she figured us out, but I smiled, being spared Naru's wrath would make anyone happy.

"But..." Naru said as she pulled out the last Prep Exam results. "Keitaro, these scores are terrible!" Naru shouted as Keitaro kinda stared. "If I hadn't seen those practice tests you took at Hinata Sou, I would think that you are a complete idiot." She said as Keitaro kinda slumped over.

"But he is doing much better Naru-san." I said, trying to defuse the potentialy dangerous situation.

"Yeah, but the Entrance Exam is in two weeks, its going to take a lot of work for him to be able to get into Tokyo U at this rate!" Naru said as I smiled.

"Well then..." I said as I put a hand on Keitaro's shoulder. "I guess I'll be playing tutor a lot more over the next couple weeks then won't I?" I said as Keitaro raised his head and smiled, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Naru smiling as well.

"Oh yeah, what are you doing here in the first place anyway Kenshin? Naru asked as I shrugged.

"Keitaro left his lunch at Hinata Sou, so I ran over here to get it to him." I said as Naru's eyes widened slightly.

"You... ran here... and got here before class started..." Naru said as she looked at Keitaro who just shrugged.

"I'm still trying to figure out how he did it." Keitaro said as they looked at me and I just smiled.

"You two just underestimate just how fast I am, and I am very fast that I am." I said as we heard a bell ring. "That sounds like the class bell, you two better get to class." I said as they looked at me.

"What are you going to do?" They asked as I shrugged.

"Well I didn't have too much to do anyway, I think I'll stick around here, Hiko-san does want me to keep up with my studies." I said as they nodded and we all ran to get the the class.

OMAKE!!!!

Then all of a sudden Motoko and Su jumped out of their clouds, Motoko armed with her sword, and Su armed with a heat-seaking rocket launcher. They stared each other down before Motoko struck. "Shinmeiryuu: Zankousen (Way of Gods' Cries: Light Cleaving Flash)!" Motoko shouted as she swung her sword and sent a wave a ki towards Su. Su rolled out of the way and armed her rocket.

"HA! Now I'm gonna get you with this HEAT SEAKING MISSLE!!!" Su shouted as she launched her rocket, only to have it do a U-turn and begin following the wave of ki... that was heading straight towards the couch I was on. Everyone stopped fighting as they watched the missle and ki wave slowly head towards the couch I was on. They all heard a yawn coming from the couch as my head peeked over the side, my eyes drooping.

"What's with all the racket..." I said as I suddenly saw the ki wave and rocket. "Oh great again?" I said aloud as the rocket and ki wave hit me, sending me through the roof of the house and flying through the air. As I went up I rested my head on my arm and checked an imaginary watch on my wrist as I sighed. "This one may take a little while..." I muttered as I disappeared into a cloud. Then I reappeared out of that cloud, but only this time with a game board and little wooden squares with kanjis on them. i began placing the squares in order and I smiled. "There!" I said in triumph as I looked at the board...

"I spelled 'Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu' that should be worth at least fifty points!" The board of Scrabble. As I celebrated I looked down to see me approaching the hot springs. "Well time to pack up." I said as I stuffed the board and wood pieces into my sleeve pocket, and then, in mid-air, got into a praying position as my body hit the water.

END OMAKE!!!!

Alright then everyone as soon as this is posted the previous version will be deleted, thank you for your patience. Remember to Review!!!


	6. Heated Studies and Shinobu's Party

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Well it is official folks, this story is now my ORIGINAL LOVE HINA STORY. The other one never existed (wink, wink. nudge, nudge.). I hope you all will enjoy reading my fic, as much as I will enjoy writing it.

And now, I will be going on to the reviews;

ftayoa- MY FUTURE PLANS ARE SECRET! Also Kenshin's sword is a regular katana, it wouldn't do him much good to try to kill Enishi with a sakabato now would it?

Infinite Freedom- Please do be patient, I am very overloaded right now so please do be patient.

Raenef the 6th- Or do you? I hope he will, or do I?!

Alright then, now onto the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper!!!!

Chapter 6: Heated Studies, And Shinobu's Party!!!

Keitaro and Naru ran into their first period class, I followed them in, seeing as how I didn't know which classes they went to. As it turns out, Naru and Keitaro had the same first period, they even sat next to each other, funny as how you could be next to someone you'll get to know, without even knowing it. Anyway, the first period... I didn't know, I was just sitting behind Naru and Keitaro. Eventually the man who appeared to be the teacher walked in, Keitaro, Naru, and I were sitting pretty far back so I couldn't make out to many fine details about him. Heck, I couldn't even hear his name.

After a while I finally figured out what class this was, English, and the teacher had apparently handed out a book for them to read and then tell what it was about. This was actually a good way to teach people to learn to read English and translate it to Japanese, that's actually how Hiko taught me. Eventually the teacher was going to call on someone, since I technically wasn't in the class I figured I was in the clear... until. "You there, the red-head wearing the kimono, please tell us what the first few chapters were about!" The teacher said singling out me. I froze for a second before regaining my composure.

"Umm, I'm afraid you're mistaken sir, for I am not.." I began until the teacher cut me off.

"'I am not capable of reading English' that is what they all say whenever they don't read the assignment! Now I'm going to give you a chance to redeam yourself. Can you tell us about the first few chapters in the book written by Stephen King, 'It'?!" The teacher yelled, as everyone soon centered their attention in on me... but I didn't notice them, I was too busy with the shivers going up and down my spine, and the goosebumps, the size of insect eggs, on my arms.

Oh yeah, I had read Stephen King's 'It' before, in fact, Hiko thought that would be the best novel for me to read, since he was such a big fan. And let me tell you something, before 'It' I was a big fan of the circus, clowns, I didn't hate spider, I could stand them, and balloons. But after 'It' that I was afraid of the circus, clowns, spiders, balloons, and even the English Word **dairy** just because it sounded like **Derry**. Needless to say, after reading it, my hatred of and need to kill Enishi was replaced by my fear of and need to kill clowns. In fact, it was that fear of clowns that ended up getting me banned from most birthday parties...

A Birthday Party: 7 Years Earlier

_It was a delicate scene at a little baby girl's birthday party. The name of the girl being... I actually can't remember much about her_. _All I can remember is that her dad and Hiko went to college together... and I don't really remember much about him either..._ _Anyway, the little girl's father had a lot of people over for her birhtday party, most of them being old friends of his like my father, but unfortunetly I, Kenshin Himura, age eight, was dragged along because Hiko didn't want me alone. This was not the first special occasion having to do with other kids my age, or with Hiko's friends for that matter, but it would certainly prove to be the last... The party was going along great as the few other kids actually at the party and I enjoyed games like pin the tail on the North Korean _(LOL)_ and other various games._

_It was a half-hour later when they brought the biggest birthday cake I had ever seen into the room. I thought that it was big enough to fit an entire person inside... and I was right. All of a sudden a clown just ripped through the top of the cake, the icing and cake parts all over his face. I stared, completely afraid of this clown. He looked at me and started to come towards me. With my sword at my side_, _also, great idea dad, give a sword to a kid you just scared to death with 'It' and then took him to a birthday party that's going to have the wierdest clown in the world pop out of a cake, I knew what I had to do..._

_It was quiet for a few minutes at the birthday party till... "Hey kid something wrong? Your eye is all twitchy... AHHHHHHHHH!!!" The clown shouted as he ran out of the house and onto the street, with cut marks on his butt. I soon followed him, swinging my sword like a crazy person at him. "WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO YOU KID?!??" The clown shouted at me as I caught up with him._

_"You aren't going to eat me clown!!!" I shouted as I took a swing at him, and caused another cut to form on his rear._

_"OW! FOR THE LAST TIME KID, I'M A VEGITARIAN!!!" The clown shouted as he kept on running._

_"You aren't going to fool me with that, everyone knows that vegitarians are just a myth! And I'm not going to let you eat another person as long as I live!" I shouted as I took another swing, producing another cut on his ass._

_"OW!!! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!" The clown shouted as I continued chasing him down the street. Meanwhile Hiko and the father of the little girl ran out of the house, both of them sprinting to catch up with me._

_"What in God's name did you do to your kid Hiko, train him to attack clowns on sight?!" The father of the girl said, as he ran beside Hiko._

_"Well... you could say that I did it on accident..." Hiko said while the man raised an eyebrow._

_"What do you mean?" The man asked while Hiko scratched the back of his head._

_"I... kinda had him read Stephen King's 'It' so he could learn English... hehehehe." Hiko said while chuckling nervously at the end while the other man sighed._

_"Honestly Hiko, if I weren't as bad a father as you I would've reported you." The man said as Hiko's head dropped._

_"Yeah I know..." Hiko said as he and the man continued to chase after me._

Back To The Present

A few hours, and a couple tranquilizer darts later, I was caught by Hiko and the other man and the clown was sent to the hospital before his ass could get infected. Fortunetly the clown didn't press charges after he figured out I had read 'It' but I did get sent to the Funny Farm for a couple of weeks, where I met several ex-yakuza thug members that helped make me stop wanting to kill clowns, and make we want to kill Enishi again... how they did it... I don't really want to think about it. I looked the teacher in the eye and nervously began trying to speak. "O-oh yeah, I read 'It'..." I said as the teacher raised his eyebrow.

"Alright then, could you please tell the rest of the class what the first few chapters were about then?" The teacher said in a more demanding tone than that of a questioning tone. And even though I knew I shouldn't, I couldn't help but simply nodd and give the man what I could remember of the first few chapters of that terrifying, and traumatizing book. After I was done the teacher looked at me with raised eyebrows yet again. "That... was the most detailed description of the first few chapters of 'It' I have ever heard!" He said as the bell rang and the students got up. "Wait, red-head, need to talk to you!" He said as I shugged and walked down to his desk.

"You wanted to see me sir?" I asked as he nodded.

"Tell me son, why did you come here?" He asked as I shrugged.

"Well you see, I was bringing..." I began unti he finished.

"A new view into my life, and knew I needed a education! That is one of the best answers I have ever gotten!" He said as I sweat dropped.

"Umm sir, that's not..." I began saying till he interupted... again.

"All that great? Nonsense! That is by far one of the greatest things that can happen!" The teacher said as he smiled. "Tell me, how old are you?" He said as I sighed.

"I am fifteen sir." I said as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"Oh, so you graduated high school early?" He asked, excitement in his voice.

"No I was hone schooled but you're not letting me..." I said as he almost leapt out of his chair.

"Tell me how truly gifted you are?! My apologies, if I had known you were home schooled I would not dare group you with the public school kids!" He said as I sweat dropped again. "So, I did not see your name on the list..?" He said as I nodded.

"Kenshin Himura." I said as he nodded.

"Right, I did not see your name on the list Himura-san." The teacher said as I tried to speak again.

"Well that's because I am not..." I started off.

"Currently enrolled because you first wanted to check out the school to see if it were suitable for an inspiring young genius such as yourself. Well Himura-san here at Jah-Jah-Moh Prep School people like you have gone to there choice colleges for years, so no need to worry about the quality of the education here." The teacher said as I just began sweat dropping like crazy.

"Umm sir, that's nice, but..." I began saying till he slammed his hand on the table.

"Now you would like to enroll in the school! Great, I'll take you to the principles office right away!" He said as he grabbed my arm and began pulling me along with him. He pulled me outside the room where I saw Naru and Keitaro waiting for me. They looked at me being pulled with raised eyebrows.

"Kenshin-san?" They both said as they watched me get pulled away.

"HELP ME!!!" I screamed as Naru and Keitaro began running after me. I was dragged all the way to the pricipal's office, and the teacher slammed the door shut, and then locked it before Naru or Keitaro could get in. He then threw me in the seat in front of the principal. "Look I don't think you two..." I began saying till the principal interupted.

"Know what we're doing? Of course we know what we're doing, afterall we're about to enroll you into this school aren't we?" He asked as he got out some paper work. "So, which school will be your first choice?" The principal asked as I scratched the back of my head.

"Well my friends are heading to Tokyo U but..." I began saying as the teacher interupted again.

"You want to go there for the great education they can give a genius like you. What a good decision you're making!" The teacher yelled as the principal started writing it down on the file. "And who would you..." He began saying until I interupted him.

"WOULD YOU TWO JUST LISTEN TO ME!!!" I yelled causing the teacher and principal to freeze in place. "I've been trying to tell you, I don't go to this school, I don't plan on it, I was just giving a friend of mine his lunch!" I yelled as those two gave me a more serious look.

"So... you're not going to enroll?" They asked as I got nervous all of a sudden.

"Ummm... well, no." I said as the teacher picked me up and walked over to the door.

"THEN GET OUT OF THIS SCHOOL!!!!" He yelled as he threw me out of the room, causing me to land face first in front of Naru and Keitaro.

"What happened?" They both asked as they picked me up.

"Well..." I began as I dusted myself off. "I don't think I'll be allowed into this school ever again." I said as I smiled at them, and they smiled back, albeit a bit nervously.

"And... you're happy about that... cause your smiling and..." Keitaro said as Naru nodded.

"It is kinda strange how you smile so much when bad stuff happens Kenshin-san." She said as Keitaro nodded in agreement.

"Well... I don't know, I guess I think it is always best to just move on from..." I said, stopping myself from finishing that sentence as my eyes darkened a bit.

'If I believe that to be true then... why can't I move on from Enishi.' I thought as Naru and Keitaro snapped their fingers in front of my face.

"You alright Kenshin-san, you kinda blanked out on us there for a second." Keitaro said as I sighed and began smiling again.

"Yes I'm fine, just a bad memory is all, that it is." I said as I began walking down the halls. "I'll wait for you two at the front of the school, after school, afterall I don't have much to do today, that I don't." I said as they nodded and smiled back as I walked through the halls of the school. I eventually reached the front of the building and I looked around for a place to sit, I saw a wooden bench and sat on it. I then got into a meditation position, and began waiting for the end of the school day.

I sat there for what felt like hours when the bell finally rang out, bringing me out of my 'strance', and back into reality. I looked around for a while and noticed how late it was getting, we probably wouldn't get to the train till nightfall at the rate those two will be moving. I sighed as I stood up and waited for Naru and Keitaro to come out of the school building, which after about thirty minutes they did. "Hey you two, what took you so long?" I asked jokingly as they walked up to me.

"Well Keitaro here forgot one of his books." Naru said as Keitaro rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"Oh really? Which one Keitaro-san?" I asked as Keitaro reached into his bag and pulled out... 'It'. I froze there, staring at the book of evil with wide eyes, my hand on the edge of the handle of my sword, trembling. They both stared at me for a second, and then looked at the book. He put the book away, I relaxed, brought the book back out, I began panicking again. In, good, out, bad, in, good, out, bad. They raised their eyebrows as he finally put the book away again and I relaxed.

"Kenshin-san... something the matter with you and this book?" Keitaro asked as I shrugged.

"Well... let us say that it was because of that book that I was banned from going to birthday parties back at home." I said as I began walking as Naru and Keitaro kinda stared at me with wide eyes. "Well are you coming? If you don't hurry we'll miss the train, that we will." I said as Naru and Keitaro nodded and then began running along with me, I myself hoping to whatever God was willing to listen that we'd get there in time so I wouldn't have to carry these two to Hinata Sou.

We made it with only a minute to spare before the train would've left, Naru and Keitaro squeezed in, and I tried to get in, only to find I wouldn't fit. "Something wrong Kenshin-san?" Naru asked as I stood outside the door.

"It would appear as though that I cannot fit into the train, but don't worry I'll think of something!" I yelled in as they nodded and the doors closed. The train began moving as I tried to think of what to do. I finally got an idea as I looked at the top of the train cart, and jumped on the top of it. I sat down, satisfied with my 'Last Class' seat, watching as the train moved through the city. I had a great view, watching the city lights pass by. I began wandering how Naru and Keitaro were doing so I looked over the edge of the train, and I smiled at what I saw.

Keitaro was standing, holding onto rail hanging from the ceiling, with a huge blush on his face. Why? Because Naru was sleeping against Keitaro, using his shoulder as a pillow. I smiled as I continued watching them... "ALL PASENGERS PLEASE BE CAREFUL AS THE TRAIN COMES TO A STOP!!!" The conductor yelled over the intercom as the train suddenly stopped, and I nearly fell off. Fortunetly I had a good grip on the side of the train, preventing my fall. When I was able to get myself reset I looked in again to check on Naru and Keitaro...

Let's just say what I saw wasn't what I was expecting... Thanks to all the passengers in the car Naru and Keitaro were being squished together. I felt the heat rise to my face, and saw the heat rising to Keitaro's and Naru's face, as they were being squished together. Any other guy would've probably been excited about that chance, but Keitaro and I knew... that one wrong move and it would be a death sentence. I watched as the people finally stopped pushing Keitaro and Naru together as they were able to seperate. Naru turned away from Keitaro for a moment... a minute later all three of us would see it was a bad move.

The train once again came to an abrupt start, causing almost everyone to fall backwards. This time I was prepared for the sudden stop and I was able to hold on... the sight I was treated to though made me wish I had fallen off. I saw Keitaro fall against the wall, and Naru fall soon after him... and landed on a spot of his that made blood spurt out of my nose. I watched as Keitaro grimaced in pain and Naru, who was too busy trying to pull her skirt down, not noticing where she landed.

She looked out the window and saw me, staring at them with widened eyes and blood creeping out of my nose. She kinda got this angry look on her face and mouthed "What". I began thinking of a way to tell her that she landed on Keitaro's manhood. So I brought one hand down , and straightened it, and pointed to it with the other hand and mouthed 'Keitaro' and she nodded. Then I brought the other hand into a fist shape and pointed to it and mouthed 'You' and she nodded. Then I slammed my fist into the palm of my hand and then made a face of agony.

Naru blushed as she seemed to get the idea, she slowly turned to Keitaro, and saw the looked of shear agony on his face, and also saw that he was beginning to cry a little bit. I couldn't hear but I watched as Naru began to panic a bit and appear to be saying 'I'm sorry' over and over again. As she did she squirmed around and Keitaro looked like he was about to die. Naru finally stopped squirming and they both just sat there till they could get up again. Naru looked at the window I was looking through and motioned for me to kinda go away, which I did after realizing that it was either that or a Naru Punch.

We finally arrived at Hinata Sou, after what felt the strangest train ride of my entire life. I jumped off the top of the train, and Naru walked out of the train, trailing behind her was Keitaro, who was limping slightly from the pain he still felt in his groin. We began walking up the stairs, until Keitaro stopped suddenly. "Hey, you think it would be alright if maybe we studied with you sometime?" Keitaro asked as I nodded along with him.

"Yes, I could only help him so much. I t would be a great help Naru-san, that it would." I said as Naru turned around and tapped her chin with her finger.

"I'll think about it, but first." Naru said as she walked down a few steps. "Why do you want to get into Tokyo U?" Naru asked as Keitaro blushed a little bit.

"Why..." Keitaro said sounding a bit dazed. "Well why do you want to get in?" Keitaro asked as we all got to the top and Naru took a few steps ahead.

"Me? It's..." Naru said as she looked up at the sky and took the, I think they're call 'scrunchies', out of her hair as she turned around and stuck her tongue out at us. "It's a secret." She said as she grinned, getting a laugh out of me and a slightly thoughtful look out of Keitaro. We walked to the courtyard out front and saw Motoko and Kitsune waiting for us there.

"Aaawww. You three walked home together, how sweet." Kitsune teased as we all sweat dropped.

"I trust that neither of you two did anything to Narusegawa." Motoko said as Keitaro and Naru blushed and I felt blood start to creep out of my nose as I thought of what happened on the train. Keitaro and I rushed foward passed them to hide our faces, and my blood.

"O-of course not Motoko-san don't be ridiculous." I said nervously as we were almost to the door...

"HEY RUROUNI-KUN AND RONIN! Time to play!" Su said as she kicked both Keitaro and I in the head, causing us to fall on the ground. The blood in my nose freely flowing now.

General POV

"Aww Su, look you kicked Kenshin so hard that you caused his nose to bleed." Kitusne said as Naru sighed in relief.

'Oh thank you God for Su's welcome kick...' Naru thought as she walked foward and entered Hinata Sou.

A Few Days Later

Kenshin POV

It was a few days since the train incident and the house had been running normally... as normal as Hinata Sou could get. Over the past few days Keitaro and I have been studying, trying to get him ready for the big Exam. The progress has been going at a slow, yet steady pace, and Keitaro has a slight chance of being able to get in under my guidance. But there's only so much I could do for Keitaro, soon we may want to try to ask Naru to help us with Keitaro's studies.

But that's not to say that was the only interesting thing going on in Hinata Sou. Every morning I have been able to train my body, and my sword skills. I've been trying to get Motoko to spar with me, yet still she believes me to be nothing but a dishonest lecher... sad really. Su and I have been hanging out a bit more recently too, though now she has developed the habit of calling me Rurouni-kun as a nickname. Not that I mind.

Anyway, Kitsune seems to be cooling off as well. In fact just the other day she and I had a drinking contest. I knew she never stood a chance, with all the drinks Hiko used me as a test subject for, I would be able to outdrink hher any day of the week. So it started off, both her and I going at an even pace, but around the fifth drink she began slowing down considerably, while I continued at the same brisk pace, but I began to notice a tingling sensation in my finger tips. Around the tenth drink Kitsune began actually looking like she was about to go any second, while I only started feeling slightly drunk. It was the eleventh drink that knocked Kitsune out, and gave me the title of the greatest drinker in Hinata Sou!

Shinobu and I began switching shifts for cooking, we both agreed not to cook the same type of meal as each other. So every day she would cook she would bring out a delicious foreign meal I had learnt to cook during my time as a cook at a bar I had worked at that was owned by, what I could only presume, were Irish 'tourists' they called themselves, but I could tell they were in the witness protection program. Anyway, one night Keitaro asked me to tell them where I got the knowledge of all this foreign food, so I leaned back in my chair, and gathered my memories.

"Well it began oh about a year ago, a year after my travels began I think, I was in Nara and I had run out of money... again. So I began looking around for a job to get me enough so that I could continue my travels. I eventually found this neat old bar that had a help wanted sign on the window and I went in. Imagine my suprise when I found out that this bar was actually owned by a foreign married couple. So they told me what they needed, and they apparently needed a cook." I said, as the tenants became captivated by the story.

"Now I wasn't all that great of a cook, I had learnt how to cook minor meals for myself whenever I would travel through wooded sections of Japan, but nothing major. But what they would pay me, and the fact that if did work there I would also get a room to stay in I just couldn't say no (basically employees got to live at the bar). So I began cooking, cooking foreign meals, both simple and complex, both ordinary and exotic. I had learnt how to cook so many meals that I could have been a cook on the Iron Chef without any problem." I said as the girls nodded.

"But one day I finally had the money to leave, but I considered staying at the bar, it was a nice place to stay. But one thing, on event forced me to leave!" I said as the tenants leaned in. "You see, on the day I was to leave the owner of the bar told me to have a drink before I left. So I tried to order Sake, but the bar owner told me (clears throat) 'You don't want that Sake crap, that stuff's for queers' (basically imagine a heavy Irish accent whenever Kenshin quotes this guy). And then told me to 'Drink the house beer ' cause it was 'Freakin' great' and I told him... okay." I said as everyone nodded.

"So he got out this vile looking concotion, it looked like the most evil thing on the planet. It was pitch black, I could've swore I saw hair in it, and finger nail clippings. And I swear I saw a fish jump out of it!" I said as they started grimacing. "So I picked up this beer, and he looked at me and said 'Drink up queer' so I brought it to my lips, and the second it touched my lips, I threw up, I swear, I vomited all over the counter. I was so disgusting. And let me tell you something I had bad drinks before, but that was the worst. I just had to leave, I had to get out of there. So I ran as fast as my legs could carry me and by the time they were done cleaning the vomit I was in Osaka." I said as some of the girls started laughing while Motoko just muttered 'liar'. "I'm not kidding." I said seriously as they all kinda stared at me the rest of the meal.

But that was yesterday, today wasn't much different except tonight Naru was cooking. Keitaro and I decided to skip out on dinner tonight so we could focus on his studies, but I had brought up a plate of Naru's cooking for both of us, so we could at least have a slightly good meal. We studied hard in Keitaro's room, I was trying to drill information into his head, but that was about as easy as getting Haruka to stop smocking, or to get Hiko to stop testing Sake on me.

"NO! I DON'T GET IT!!!" Keitaro shouted as he flipped the table over and I stared at him with widened eyes for a second.

Hold on Keitaro-san let me take a look real quick." I said as I picked up the book Keitaro was studying from. I looked it over before my eyes went wide, as I repeatedly reread, and reread the information. I lowered the book, Keitaro staring at me with hope in his eyes while I smiled nervously. "Sorry Keitaro-san, Trig really was never one of my strong points..." I said as Keitaro face vaulted.

"Well just great, if you can't get it how are we supposed to study..." Keitaro said as he sighed. "I bet this would be easy for Narusegawa though..." Keitaro said as he got a dreamy look on his face and began blushing and drooling. I hit him over the head with a fan and he snapped out of it. "What was I doing?! I don't have time to day dream like that! I gotta do this for Shinobu-chan..." Keitaro said as he got the same look in his eyes as before and I just stared wide-eyed, beginning to wonder whether or not he was a pedophile or not.

"WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!!!??!?!?" Keitaro shouted as he began slamming his head on the table. "THAT'S WHY WE MADE HER CRY, AND SHE'S STILL IN 9TH GRADE FOR GOD'S SAKE!!?!!?!??!" Keitaro shouted as blood started coming out of his head, and I just stared with amazement at him. After he was done getting that thought out of his head we sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what the hell were going to do next.

"Well, we shouldn't be too proud to beg, that we shouldn't." I said as I stood up and picked up Keitaro's books and study guides and started walking out the door. Keitaro took the hint and followed me as we went upstairs and ended up in front of Naru's room. I knocked on Naru's door and waited for someone to answer.

"What?" Naru asked, sounding a little more then annoyed at the moment.

"Naru-san, its Keitaro-san and I, do you mind if we studied with you tonight?" I asked kindly, crossing my fingers as I heard footsteps coming towards the door.

"Yeah sure, don't see why not." Naru said as she opened the door. She blushed as she realized that she was wearing pajamas and track pants as well as her coke bottle glasses. She looked backwards and I looked behind her to see that, despite the cleaning I gave it a few days ago, it was once again a mess. Naru slammed the door on us and we heard rushed footsteps going around the room. "Could you two hold on a second? Maybe get us something to drink?!" We heard Naru shouted from her room as we sweat dropped.

"Uh... sure." We both said as we walked downstairs.

A few minutes later Keitaro and I returned, Keitaro carrying two glasses filled with hot chocolate, and myself carrying a bottle of Sake. We were in front of her door once again, and we stood there for a minute before Naru swung her door open, revealing her in a yellow sweater, and red mini skirt. I looked behind her to see her room good as new. "Welcome!" Naru said as I smiled and Keitaro face vaulted.

"You know we don't mind a little mess." I said as Keitaro nodded.

"Shad'up. I am a girl you know, I get nervous letting a guy in my room, and even more with two." She said as I chuckled.

"Well I'm glad you at least think we're guys, no may we please come in?" I asked as Naru nodded and we came into her room. We both looked around for a second, I didn't need to look too much since I had already been in her room before, so I didn't waste nearly as much time looking around and I walked over to the furnace table and took a seat, placing all of the books and such on top of it. Naru and Keitaro followed shortly afterward. All three of us sat down and got to buisness.

"So what are you having trouble with?" Naru asked as Keitaro handed her the book he/we were studying off of. Naru stared at it for a second before looking at us with a confused stare. "These are simple Trig problems! Even if you couldn't do them, you should be able to explain them to him well enough." Naru said as Keitaro sighed and I waved my hands nervously in front of my face.

"Wel l was never all that great with Trig..." I said as Naru sighed.

"Alright, here's what you have to do..." Naru said as she began explaining the basics of the Trig questions to us. Keitaro picked up on it pretty quickly, but I still really didn't understand it at all. Afterall, if Hiko can't teach it to you, then you basically have no hope of getting it at all, that's my philosophy. It was a couple hours later when Keitaro finally finished the Trig book, he was apparently very excited about it and even became teary over it. After a while Naru finally ended Keitaro's raving.

"Hey, why Tokyo U anyway?" Naru asked suddenly as Keitaro and I looked at her. "I mean there are tons of Universities, why Tokyo U?" Naru asked as Keitaro blushed and got a suprised look on his face.

"Why?" Keitaro asked, as if trying to pry up the answer himself. "Well..." Keitaro said as he looked down. "Could I ask you something first?" Keitaro said as Naru raised an eyebrow. "Would a girl remember a childhood promise she made to a boy she liked over ten years ago... a 'see you there' promise?" Keitaro asked as Naru seemed to understand a little more. "And even if going 'there' is going to be tough... and she isn't sure if the boy still remembers... do you think... she'd still remember? Keitaro finished as Naru seemed to become silent, as I tried to think of the answer to that question as well.

"Hahahaha! There's no one really like that! Why would anyone remember there childhood promise!? I feel really stupid..." Keitaro said nervously as he scratched the back of his head nervously. Naru blinked a few times and leaned over the table till she was mere inches from Keitaro's face.

"She certainly remembers!" Naru exclaimed as Keitaro blinked a couple times.

"You really think so..." Keitaro said as Naru stood up.

"Yeah if she really likes the guy! No matter how many years, or how many days, she'll remember! Even if its those impossible goals!" Naru said as she began crying a bit. "I'm sure she's trying hard! Overcoming all obstacles! OH ITS SO ROMANTIC!!!" Naru exclaimed as Keitaro and I smiled a bit.

"You know Keitaro, she's right." I said bringing both of their attentions to me. " If she really felt that way about you, and if she really wanted to be with you, she'd remember, and she'd still be working so very hard to be there with you. That is what I believe, that it is." I said as Keitaro and Naru smiled. It was a sweet moment... until.

"Hey Naru, are you in there?" We heard Mitsune say from the other side of the door and we all began panicking.

"Oh no that's Mitsune's voice!" Keitaro whispered/shouted.

"Oh no if she sees us like this she'll spread all sorts of rumors!" Naru shouted as I picked Keitaro up by his shirt and carried him over to the closet.

"Keitaro you hide in here!" I shouted as I put my hand on the handle of the closet door.

"NO IF YOU DO THAT..." Naru began shouting as I slammed open the closet door, and just as all the bras, panties, etc. were about to land on me and Keitaro I threw Keitaro in, pushing the garments back, and then slammed the door shut again before they could fall on us. Naru just stared for a moment with widened eyes. "Wow I didn't think you could fit anything else in there." She said as I opened the lid up leading back to mine and Keitaro's room, and did an Olympic dive down into the room. When I landed I reached back up and close the lid just as Mitsune entered the room.

I kept my ear to the lid leading to Naru's room, listening in on Naru's and Mitsune's conversation. "Weird, it was so noisy here a second ago..." Mitsune said as I heard her footsteps come closer into the room. "Wow a furnace table, mind if I have a seat?" Mitsune said as I heard her sit down.

"No-no of course not! Why would I?" Naru asked as I just sat there, hoping Keitaro wouldn't bust out of that closet.

"You alright Naru? You look kinda nervous about something." Mitsune said.

"Wh-wh-what would make you think I'm nervous?" I heard Naru stutter out as I sweat dropped.

'Naru please, if you keep this up, we'll get caught!' I thought as I put my ear closer to the lid, hoping Mitsune would just leave.

There were a few moments of silence after that, a few random topics of conversation between Mitsune and Naru, before I heard Mitsune finally begin walking away. "Well Naru, I guess I'll see ya later." I heard Mitsune say I as I heard Naru's door open.

"Ye-yeah, see ya Kitsune!" Naru shouted as I heard the door shout and I popped my head out of the lid.

"Is she gone?" I asked as I looked around the room. "Thank goodness, I was getting worried for a second." I said as I climbed into Naru's room. In the next instant the closet door burst open, revealing Keitaro ensnared in Naru's bra's, panties, etc. I stared at him for a moment before I started getting a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. And just as I was about to get down on my knees and beg Naru for forgiveness, I heard laughter. I looked at Naru and just watched her standing there laughing. Keitaro and I shared a nervous glance before I stepped up to her. "Naru-san, are you alright?" I asked as Keitaro untangled himself and stepped up to her too.

"It's just..." Naru said in between fits of laughter. "Everytime I'm with you two... things like this happen!" Naru said continuing to laugh as Keitaro and I continued to stare at her with blank expressions.

"Hey Naru there was one more thing I need to tell..." Mitsune shouted as she opened the sliding door, revealing us to her. I saw her eye twitch for a second before turning to face the outside of the door. "HEY..." She began shouted before I hit her over the back of her head with the handle of my sword.

"Do.. you think that was the wisest thing we've ever done?" Keitaro asked as Naru walked up to Mitsune's out cold form and helped me pick her up.

"Well Keitaro-san, she brought it upon herself that she did." I said as Naru and I began carrying Mitsune to her room. When we reached her room we promptly dropped her on her futon, and then started spreading empty Sake bottles around her room. When we were finished we snuck out of her room and closed the door. "There, now when Mitsune-san wakes up she'll believe that it was all just a Sake induced dream, and that the aching in her head was caused by a hangover." I said as Naru and Keitaro nodded and we all went back to our rooms for the night, too much had gone on in one night if you ask me...

November 14

It had been at least a week and a half since that little incident. Fortunely for us the plan worked, Mitsune woke up that morning, and believed that everything that had happened was thanks to all the Sake. Though when she thought about how she didn't remember drinking, I told her that whenever you drink you really don't remember drinking. Though it really didn't make much sense to me, Mitsune seemed to get it, so I was glad. Things had been going smoothly, other than that, over the past few days.

It was dinner time at Hinata Sou tonight, and Shinobu was the one cooking tonight, thank goodness. And the meal she cooked looked like something someone would cook for royalty. Su and Keitaro were practically drooling over it, while I just kept to staring at it with a look of that of a starved dog. We all began eating when Mitsune mentioned how strange she didn't remember drinking that night, this was usually a bad time for Keitaro, Naru, and I because we would get a little bit nervous.

You see dispite never having written anything as a freelance writer her entire life, Mitsune was dangerously good at asking people the right questions to get them to spill their guts. If she ever did interview anyone other than us, I'd give them five minutes, make that five seconds, against Mitsune's amazing gut spilling power. But this time like last time, and the time before she didn't make, too, big of a deal over it and we all continued eating.

"Shinobu-chan, what're you doing tomorrow?" Su asked as Shinbou blushed and kinda looked down.

"Me... uh... I..." Shinbou muttered as I raised an eyebrow and was just about to ask her what was up until...

"What's wrong Shinobu-chan, you look kinda weird." Motoko stated in a matter of fact way and Shinobu seemed to become more flustered.

"Huh... Oh nothing much..." Shinobu said as Su and Motoko nodded and they went back to eating their meals. Shinobu sighed as she continued eating, and I stared at her with a bit of concern. I could tell soemthing was up, something having to do with tomorrow... WAIT! Tomorrow was November the 15th, the date that she had circled on her calendar. If there was ever a time to ask Haruka about that date it would be tomorrow.

But, it would have to wait till tomorrow, Keitaro and I still had some work to do so after dinner he and I headed back up to his room and continued studying. After about an hour he and I got out of his room and started heading down the kitchen, studying made one very thirsty, especially after having to explain something to someone almost over thirty times... Keitaro and I were walking down the hall, talking to each other about his studies, so we didn't see the large tower of clothing coming towards us.

BOOM!

Keitaro and I, tons of clothes, and whoever was carrying them fell to the floor. "Oh I'm sorry we weren't looking!" I shouted as I looked over to see Shinobu, blushing as she looked at Keitaro and I. "Shinobu-chan, sorry about that.. hehehe, deja vu eh?" I said as I knelt down, Keitaro following shortly afterwards, and began picking up clothes. "Here let us help you out." We said as Shinobu shook her head no and began picking up clothes along with us.

"No... no thanks I'll be fine..." Shinbou muttered as we all went for one piece of clothing at once. As our hands touched Shinobu became flustered, which showed up on her face as a blush, and began picking up clothes at the rate I would expect myself to pick up if going at full speed. "I GOTTA GO!" She shouted as she shot off like a bullet. I noticed one piece of clothing on the floor, picked it up, and ran in front of her and put it on top of her pile.

"You missed something." I said as she nodded and ran off again. I sighed as I walked back to Keitaro, who was sighing a bit as well. "Well Keitaro-san, looks like Shinobu-chan still isn't one hundred percent over everything yet..." I said as he nodded.

"Yeah, that entire lie about me going to Tokyo U kinda started it off, but us seeing her naked must've finished it..." Keitaro said as we sighed and went back to our room.

'Tomorrow.' I thought. 'Tomorrow I'm figuring out what's so important about November fifteenth.' I thought as Keitaro and I entered our room for the night.

November 15

"Did you two make Shinobu-chan cry again?" Naru asked us at Haruka's Tea Shop. The reason all three of us were there at the moment was because after breakfast, Naru apparenly found it very important to follow us, telling us that she could study with us at Haruka's tea shop, she said she wasn't ready with the other tenants knowing about Keitaro's study sessions with her, believing Mitsune would blow it our of proportion. And the weird thing was... all three of us knew that would be true.

"Well Naru-san, it was just an accident, we just bumped into Shinobu-chan in the hallway and she just got flustered and left..." I said as Keitaro nodded and Naru sighed as she held her head.

"Man, what are we going to do with you two." She said shocking both Keitaro and myself. "Shinobu-chan has been pretty quiet recently, and I have a feeling it was because of you two... YES YOU TWO ARE THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL!" Naru shouted as Keitaro and I face vaulted.

"Naru-san, I thought we were passed that point..." I said as Naru chuckled a bit.

"I'm kidding..." She muttered. "But anyway we should find out what's going on with Shinobu-chan..." Naru said as Haruka walked up.

"Well it might have something to do with these two." Haruka said as she took a drag on her cigarette and all three of us looked at her. "Shinobu's just a young teenager, you do enough stuff to her and lose her trust it's going to be pretty hard to get back." Haruka said as Keitaro and I lowered our heads in defeat and sighed while Haruka pulled a book out of the pocket of her robe. "Anyway here, you two might be needing this." She said as she handed us the book. "Its border info, you two'll be needing it since you two are the manager and grounds keeper." Haruka said as she walked away and left Keitaro and I with the book.

"Well... how do you think we should make this up to her?" Keitaro asked as Naru nodded as well, both looking at me with hope in their eyes, but lost it slightly when they saw me staring at the page with Shinbou's information. I was looking over it again, and again. Looking for the today's date, hoping that would tell us what was wrong. I looked over the entire page until I eventually saw it...

'How... could I have not guessed sooner...' I thought to myself as I collapsed by into my chair and looked at Naru and Keitaro with a concerned look.

"We messed up big time guys." I said as they raised an eyebrow. "And I'm not talking about lieing or seeing someone naked messed up, it is something bigger than that this time, that it is." I said as I took the book and pointed out the date of Shinobu's birth to them. Keitaro's and Naru's eyes widened as they looked at the book, and looked at me with the same concerned look. "We're going to have to pull off something big this time." I said as Naru and Keitaro nodded, and got in close so we could discuss the preparations for the big bash tonight.

Later That Evening

It was late, almost time for the party, and I was looking around for Shinobu. The jobs had been split up among the three of us, Keitaro and I went shopping for the supplies, while Naru told all the tenants at Hinata Sou, minus Shinbou, about the big party. When Keitaro and I had gotten back from shopping everyone was outside, waiting for us. Naru then told me to go in and get her to the annex, telling me that she and Keitaro would get everyone ready for the party. I was running around Hinata Sou looking for Shinobu, looking everyone, wandering where she would be. Imagine my suprise when I found her at the annex where everyone would meet us soon.

I smiled as I walked towards Shinobu, she jumped a bit and turned around, a couple of tears in the corners of her eyes. "Hello there Shinbou, I've been looking for you." I said as she blushed a bit. "Mind if I join you?" I asked, and this time suprisingly, she didn't run away. I took a few steps till I was beside her and looked out at the view of the city with her. "Nice looking isn't it..." I said as she just nodded, crying lightly. i decided that while we were waiting for the others, I might as well try to help her out a bit...

"So I read you're information." I said as she turned to look at me. "Don't worry I am the grounds keeper afterall." I said as she nodded and looked back out towards the city. "So you're here because your parents are having a few problems at home?" I asked as she nodded and a few more tears welled up into her eyes. "You know... my parents were going through the exact same thing..." I said as I heard her gasp and as she turned to me, eyes widened with shock.

"You see, for the first few years of my life I can remember my life with my parents was.. happy. We were all happy for a while, you know?" I asked as she nodded. But around the time I turned four..." I said as I lowered my head and Shinobu looked at me with even more shock, apparently she wasn't expecting it to have happened while I was so young. "My mother and father began arguing a lot, it even got to the point where they wouldn't even try to hide it from me and argued right out in the open..." I said as I lowered my head further.

"I hated them for it..." I muttered as Shinobu began crying some more. "I couldn't understand it at that age, I couldn't understand why they just kept on arguing, why they just couldn't make up and let us live as a family, you know?" I asked, Shinbou nodding with more tears in her eyes. "I just wished it would all stop, that it would all end... you know what Shinobu-chan... it did." I said as Shinobu practically began balling her eyes out at my story. "One day I walked into my parents bedroom.. it was late in the day and they were supposed to be up... and..." I said my head sinking even lower, Shinbou crying freely know.

"...How..." She muttered weakly.

"Cholera..." I muttered as her eyes widened more so, and she continued staring. "I just wanted to say something Shinobu-chan." I said as I stood and turned to her, a smile on my face. "I understand what you're going through." I said as I put a hand on her shoulder and she blushed quite a bit. "I understand how you feel, the feeling your parents have practically forgotten about you, that you aren't more important to them than their fights..." I said as Shinobu lowered her head, but I lifted it back up. "But there's something you have to know, and that's that your parents love you, that they do." I said as her eyes widened.

"They love you with every fiber of their being, and that's probably why they sent you here, so you wouldn't have to be around them when they fight, while they're trying to resolve this. Because they care too much about you." I said as I continued smiling at the young teen, who was practically crying a river of tears now. "And I'm sure that they didn't forget your birthday, they're too busy is all, that it is." I said as Shinobu gasped and looked up. "Oh yes, that's what else I wanted to say..." I began saying as all the Hinata Sou tenants popped up over the edge of the annex, minus Keitaro.

"HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY SHINOBU-CHAN!!!" Everyone shouted as Shinbou jumped from the suprise.

"Happy birthday Shinobu-chan!" Naru shouted as she handed Shinobu a present.

"Hey, we're the same age now!" Su shouted as she handed Shinobu another present.

"Happy birthday!" Mitsune and Motoko said as they handed Shinobu their gifts.

"Everyone... thank you all!" Shinobu shouted as she began crying out of joy.

"Ah no need to thank everyone if it wasn't for Kenshin-san here we probably wouldn't have figured it out till it was too late." Naru said as I smiled and shook my head.

"Oh it was nothing." I said as I scratched the back of my head. "But Shinobu-chan..." I said as Keitaro and I walked up to her. "We're sorry." I said as she looked at us. "Right now I'm studying with Keitaro in order to try to get him into Tokyo U this year, he may or may not make it, but we're still trying hard. We're going to try to make up for everything we've done okay." I said as I smiled. "So please cheer up Shinbou-chan." I said as Shinbou smiled and nodded.

"Okay then, Kenshin-san, what about you're gift?" Naru asked as I nodded and reached into my left robe sleeve and pulled out a small box with a ribbon on it.

"Here you go Shinobu-chan." I said as I gave her the box. Shinobu opened it up and there was a bracelet inside of it. "It belonged to my mother, so take good care of it okay?" I said as Shinobu teared up and nodded vigorously. "Hey." I said as I began looking around. "Where's Keitaro-san anyway?" I asked as Naru chuckled.

"Well... I had to... get him ready... HAHAHAHA!!!" Naru bursted out laughing as she pointed to the steps of the Annex revealing... Keitaro... in a clown outfit...

All of the other members of Hinata Sou began bursting out laughing while Keitaro sighed. "Very funny, hahaha... hey Kenshin-san." Keitaro said as everyone turned their attention to me. I was looking at Keitaro with a panicked look, my left eye twitching and my hand dancing on the handle of my sword. "Hey Kenshin-san... why's your eye all twitchy... AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Keitaro shouted as he jumped over the ledge of the annex, with cut marks all over his rear, and I followed him soon afterward.

"Come back here you evil clown! You aren't eating anyone at this party!!!!!" I shouted as I began chasing Keitaro around the Hinata Sou property.

"PLEASE KENSHIN-SAN, ITS ME KEITARO-SAN!" Keitaro shouted as he began ripping off his clown suit. "SEE?!!?!" He shouted as I cotninued chasing him.

"Nice try clown, I know that you all have the ability to change shape!!! And don't try to give me that vegitarian crap either!!!!" I shouted as I swung my sword at him, producing yet another cut.

"OUCH!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" Keitaro shouted as the Hinata Sou tenants just kept on watching.

General POV

"Jeez, what was that all about?" Mitsune said as the tenants nodded along with her while Naru pulled 'It' out of her pocket and began sweating. "Naru, do you know anything about this?" Mitsune asked as Naru froze up and began shaking nervously.

"No-no nothing at all..." Naru said as she put the book away.

"Sh-shouldn't we help Keitaro-kun..." Shinobu said as Mitsune tapped her chin for a bit and then smirked.

"Nah, not yet, this is way too fun to watch!" Mitsune said as Su jumped on top of the rail.

"YEAH! HOLD ON RUROUNI-KUN, RONIN-KUN, LET ME PLAY WITH YOU!!!" Su shouted as she jumped down and joined in the game of cat and mouse.

The Next Day

Kenshin POV

I was taking my lap around the city early that morning as I did every morning. Last night at the party, after about an hour of chasing Keitaro, the girls finally got bored of watching me try to kill Keitaro, and stopped me from further hurting Keitaro. After about three bottles of Sake, two punches to the head, and one Shinmeiryuu ki attack, I snapped out of my clown induced rage and apologized to Keitaro. Though he was stuck in bed, nursing his own cut marks, he accepted my apology, not making a big deal out of it. Everyone in Hinata Sou agreed that from that day foward, there would be no clowns in Hinata Sou.

As I ran I heard a familiar cooing sound coming from above me. I stopped and looked up to see Tsuruko's bird flying down towards me, and what appeared to be another letter tied to her leg. I smiled as I outstretched my arm, and the bird landed on it. I pet it a few times before speaking. "Hello there bird-san, how are you today?" I asked as the bird cooed happily, and then motioned its head to the letter. "For me?" I asked as it nodded. "Thank you bird-san, here's a little payment." I said as I reached into my, what I now call it, sunflower seed pocket, and pulled out a hand full of sunflower seed.

The bird cooed happily as it began eating the sunflower seeds and after finishing them I untied the letter from its leg, and then it flew off, out to who knows where. I shrugged as I opened the letter, and began reading its contents...

"Oh my this is certainly a suprise." I said as I read the letter...

CLIFFHANGER!!!!! Anyway REMEMBER TO REVIEW!!!!


	7. Something Tsuruko This Way Comes

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Hey there folks, this is Arganaut bringing you the next installment of this story! Not to much new to report, or anything to talk about so let's get on with the reviews;

Mitsumaru- Yeah well I couldn't really think of a better place to stop it so you'll have to forgive me.

Raenef the 6th- Glad you liked it.

charles ho- Well you see I created that phobia for the classic Love Hina reason. Motoko has an irrational fear of turtles, and so Kenshin has one of clowns (though his is slightly more rational because he read 'It' when he was younger so...).

Aoirann- Sock puppets? Where would you get that idea?

Anyway, reviews are done so let's get on with the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper!!!

Chapter 7: Something Tsuruko This Way Comes

_Flashback_

_As I ran I heard a familiar cooing sound coming from above me. I stopped and looked up to see Tsuruko's bird flying down towards me, and what appeared to be another letter tied to her leg. I smiled as I outstretched my arm, and the bird landed on it. I pet it a few times before speaking. "Hello there bird-san, how are you today?" I asked as the bird cooed happily, and then motioned its head to the letter. "For me?" I asked as it nodded. "Thank you bird-san, here's a little payment." I said as I reached into my, what I now call it, sunflower seed pocket, and pulled out a hand full of sunflower seed._

_The bird cooed happily as it began eating the sunflower seeds and after finishing them I untied the letter from its leg, and then it flew off, out to who knows where. I shrugged as I opened the letter, and began reading its contents..._

_"Oh my this is certainly a suprise." I said as I read the letter..._

_Flashback End_

_Dear Himura-san,_

_Hello, it is me, Tsuruko Aoyama, and I'm writing you this to give you some rather good news. You see, my husband is leaving for a buisness meeting as I write, and so I have no services to do for either him, or my family. So I though, why not give my little sister a visit, after all did you know that she never calls me? But that's besides the point, like I said I will be paying your house a visit, and I am very excited to not only see my sister, but also to meet you and the other members of Hinata Sou._

_I will be arriving in a few days to see you all, look for me around town. It will be very nice to see you Himura-san._

_See you soon,_

_Tsuruko Aoyama_

I smiled as I folded up the letter and put it into my pocket. I continued running down the street, and began contemplating what would happen during Aoyama-san's visit...

A Few Days Later

It was a few days later and I was waiting around with Keitaro and his friends, they were checking on their test scores. I figured I would go along to see how well they had done, but also because today was supposently the day that Aoyama-san was to show up, and I wanted to find her rather quickly. I just figured that going with Keitaro and his friends into town would give me a better chance of finding her. Shirai, Haitani, and Keitaro stood absolutely still for several seconds, Keitaro with his mouth gaping open. It was raining, the perfect backdrop of the beginning of this day.

"Keitaro-san, Haitani-san, Shirai-san, how did the three of you do on your tests." I asked in a happy tone. The three of them simply slowly looked at me with slightly dazed looks.

"I have a 30 chance of getting into my first choice of college..." Shirai muttered as one sweat drop grew on my head.

"I have a 25 chance of getting into my first choice of college..." Haitani muttered as another sweat drop grew on my head.

"I have a 2 chance of getting into my first choice of college..." Keitaro muttered as half of a sweat drop grew on my head. The only thing keeping it from being a whole sweat drop was the fact that we had been studying since that test.

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Haitani suddenly screamed up to the sky and holding his hand to his head. "Its the middle of November and we're still failing?!" Haitani shouted as he ripped some of the hair off of his head.

"Looks like none of us are getting into our first choice of college... maybe we should lower our standards..." Shirai muttered as his head lowered very much. I looked at Keitaro for a moment who was staring at his test results.

"2 lower than our tax rate.." Keitaro muttered as I sweat dropped and Haitani suddenly stiffened up.

"... Well no point in worrying about it." Haitani said as he readjusted his glasses. "Let's go meet some babes and forget aboout this whole ordeal!" Haitani shouted as Keitaro and Shirai face vaulted.

"What good would that do!?" Shirai and Haitani shouted as I began holding them back.

"Maybe it would be good for the three of you guys, after all, Keitaro, you've done practically nothing but study for the past couple weeks. And Shirai, though I am not sure how hard you have been studying, I am sure that you have been studying hard as well, that I am." I said as Keitaro and Shirai nodded as Haitani anounced the beginning of what he called 'The Hunt'. We walked for a few blocks before Haitani stopped in front of us and took a deep breath through his nostrils.

"Ahhh. There's nothing more I love than the thrill of The Hunt! The smell of perfume in the air, the sight of spent credit cards laid upon the ground." Haitani said as Keitaro, Shirai and I suddenly noticed the smell of perfume in the air, and I looked on the ground to see several credit cards on the ground. "And most importantly the sound of a girl giggle in the distance." Haitani said as we all heard the sound of girlish giggles resonating in the distance. Haitani suddenly became very serious as he put his hands to his mouth. "SHOE SALE! SHOE SALE!" Haitani shouted as suddenly birds flew out of the trees in the distance. "THERE FOLLOW ME!" Haitani shouted as he suddenly began sprinting, and we began following him, in Keitaro's and Shirai's case, as fast as we could.

Soon afterwards we caught up with Haitani who slowed down to walking speed. "Yeah my tracking skills are just as great as ever! And look at our catch of the day, not bad, not bad at all." Haitani said as he pointed to three girls, who seemed freakishly familiar looking. "I like the one with the black hair in the middle, but she is a but too tall..." Haitani said as something clicked in my head.

"The one on the left has a nice body." Shirai said as I Haitani looked at him with a slightly disgusted look.

"Idiot she looks like she's in grade school!" Haitani shouted as something else clicked in my head, something was definelty familiar about them.

"I like the one on the right..." Keitaro muttered as said girl on the right glanced back, and upon seeing us blushed profusely and almost tripped over her own two feet. That was it, that was what told me who those three were. Before he could even take another step fowards I grabbed Keitaro's shoulder and pulled him a step back as Haitani and Shirai ran foward... straight into their own demise...

"Ladies wanna go out with me!?" Haitani shouted as he ran foward.

"Hey wait up!" Shirai shouted as he ran foward as well.

"You guys are annoying me." The one in the middle, Motoko... said grimly as Haitani and Shirai stopped just a few feet behind her. Suddenly Motoko spun around while launchin a horizontal Ki attack, nailing Haitani in the gut and Shirai in the head. The blast was coming for Keitaro and I so I threw Keitaro onto the ground and I did a front flip over the Ki attack. As I landed on the ground, and as Keitaro got up we looked back to see the Ki attack blow up many more random people on the street before it ended.

"Sorry! Are you alright?" I asked as there came only moans and groans from down the street.

"HEY! Its you two, Keitaro Urashima and Kenshin Himura..." Motoko said practically growling the words out.

'Looks like she's not completely convinced yet...' I thought as she continued to glare at us.

"Hey what did my friends, or those random people for that matter, do to deserve that!? I mean you shouldn't go slicing someone up when you first meet them!" Keitaro shouted as I nodded along with him.

"He's right Motoko-san..." I said as her glare picked up a little more. "... Aoyama-san, that's very abusive of your skills... but then again I suppose I'm not one to talk since I use my own to do the chores... does that still count, I'm going to have to ask Hiko-san..." I said as I tapped my finger to my chin as everyone else just kinda stared, all of them having similar thoughts.

'He could be sliced up by Motoko/me and he's standing there more concerned about that?" They all thought as Naru and Su walked over.

"Listen, a piece of advice, don't talk to Motoko like that, especially since you're a guy, last one who told her stuff like that ended up lost in the Pacific Ocean..." Naru said snapping me out of my thoughts and sending Keitaro into a small state of panic.

"What reasons have we given her to do anything to us!?" I asked as Motoko pointed her umbrella towards us.

"You two Himura have given me more than enough reasons!" Motoko said as she slung her sword over her shoulder. "Not only are both of you males, the more pig-headed of the two genders, but both of you are perverts as well as thieves." She said as I suddenly realized that my breakfast had absolutely no effect on her... "Plus Urashima, you have failed twice and yet you still have time to chase after women!" Motoko said as I was about to try and correct her before she cut me off. "And Himura, you say your a swordsman, and you do train, but you should be training so much more if you are the swords-MAN you claim to be." Motoko said effectively shutting me up after she practically growled out man.

As Motoko, Naru, and Su began walking away, Keitaro and I stood dumbfounded on the street, just staring at where they left. But he groans and moans of the random people behind us snapped us out of it, as well as the ones of Haitani and Shirai. "We should probably take them to the hospital." I said as Keitaro nodded and started helping pick up a few of the random people and helping me carry them to the hospital, though I'm not sure if they can treat Ki wounds...

After we dropped them off at the hospital we began walking back to Hinata Sou, thankfully it had cleared up after that. We began talking about a few things and even doing a few quick study questions, when all of a sudden I saw, or we both saw, Motoko walking down the street with a straw hat on her head. We both got into a defensive postition, and by that I mean we both got ready to grovle, when she just passed us by. I raised my eyebrow as I looked when all of a sudden Keitaro began screaming. I looked over to see a drunk truck driver, heading for us, going at most double the speed limit. Just as I was prepared to pull my sword the woman who looked like Motoko suddenly appeared behind us.

"Shinmeiryuu: Zanmaken (Way of Gods' Cries: Demonic Cleaving Sword)" I heard her mutter underneath her breath as she moved so fast that I could barely pick up on her movements. As far as I could tell she launched a Ki attack that split the truck straight down the middle. Leaving the drunken driver, relatively, safe, and saving both Keitaro and myself. "Excuse me." I heard her say in the next moment as Keitaro and I turned around to look at her.

"Would either one of you happen to know where Hinata-Sou is?" She asked as she took off her hat...

'Holy cow she's good looking...' I thought as I noticed that both Keitaro and myself were blushing.

"You see I'm looking for it, but it appears that I have become lost, can you help me?" She asked as suddenly bird-san appeared out of no where and landed on her shoulder. I raised an eyebrow as I pointed at her.

"Pardon me, but would you happen to be Tsuruko Aoyama?" I asked as she nodded.

"Yes I am, and who might you be?" She asked as I put my hands together and bowed.

"it is very nice to finally meet you Aoyama-san, I am Kenshin Himura." I said as Tsuruko suddenly began giggling and I looked up.

"Please Himura-san I do not like such formality. Please call me Tsuruko-chan, or even Tsu-chan." She said as Keitaro looked back and forth between us and stared.

'Is she really Motoko's sister?!' We both thought as I stood straight up and smiled at her.

"Very well Ao... Tsuruko-chan, but I would ask that you do the same for me, I mean not call me chan but call me kun." I said as I sheepishly scratched the back of my head.

"Very well then Kenshin-kun, now would you please lead me to Hinata Sou, I would like to see this place my sister lives at." She said as both Keitaro and I nodded and we began leading Tsuruko to Hinata Sou.

"Hey Kenshin-san, how do you know Tsuruko-chan by the way?" Keitaro asked as I shrugged.

"It would take a while to explain Keitaro-san, but in short we have been writing letters to each other after I found her bird, bird-san." I said as Keitaro and I looked back to see Tsuruko petting bird-san on the top of its head. We both stared for a moment before we continued walking foward, leading our new friend to Hinata Sou.

Hinata Sou

About an hour later, after riding on the train over here, we finally arrived at the top of the stairs to Hinata Sou, Tsuruko stared at its majestic form for a few minutes before looking at us. "So this wonderful place belongs to the both of you?" She asked with a smile as both Keitaro and myself nodded. "Well what are we waiting for, please lead the way." She said as we both nodded again and led her into our home. The first stop we made was to the kitchen/living area (the explosion from the breakfast incident caused most of the wall seperating the two to crumble) where Shinobu was preparing something for us to eat.

"Hello Shinobu-chan." I said as Shinobu turned around and blushed.

"Hello Kenshin-kun, Keitaro-kun." Shinobu said as she saw Tsuruko. "And who's this?" She asked as we pushed Tsuruko foward.

"This is Motoko-san's sister, Tsuruko-chan, and she'll be staying with us for a while so if you wouldn't mind making more food for her tonight Shinobu-chan?" I asked as Shinobu shook her said side to side.

"No Kenshin-kun, I wouldn't mind that at all." She said as Tsuruko bowed.

"Thank you Shinobu-chan." She said as Shinobu nodded and went back to her cooking. We led Tsuruko all over Hinata Sou, showing her the hot springs, the courtyard, and eventually to our room. As we led her in Keitaro got out a dusty old book and laid it in front of Tsuruko.

"Well Tsuruko-chan if you plan on staying the night I would like to ask if you would sign this." Keitaro asked as he opened the book, revealing it to be a guest book. Tsuruko nodded and signed her name in the book. "Your room will be the room right on the other side of ours, so if you need anything just tell us okay?" Keitaro asked as Tsuruko nodded and smiled.

"Thank you both, that is very kind of you two." Tsuruko said as we both nodded and walked back down the stairs. Shinobu was just about ready to start dinner, and everyone was there except Motoko, and Su strangely. So we voted on who would get the swordswoman, figuring Su would be with her, which confused Tsuruko a bit till we explained a bit about what had happened earlier that day. "So she's still uneasy around men..." I heard Tsuruko mutter as something flashed in her eyes before she smiled and voted me to go, along with everyone else. They apparently thought that if anyone should go, it should be me since I was the caretaker and I would be able to defend myself.

I walked to 'Motoko's new training ground' after I 'took' her old one. It was the place where we normally hung laundry one days it was sort of nice out like this. As I reached the top of the steps I saw her practicing, I walked over to the ledge and peeked up. I watched as she cut airborn leaves with grace, almost opposite of Hiten Mitsurugi. In what I've seen of both of our styles her style is more of a long ranged based style, those Ki blasts would make it seem so. It also seems that her attacks are more suited for 'demons' since the attacks are pure energy... probably why no one dies when she hits them with one of her blasts.

However, in this day and age, the Ki blasts would be seen as more of a show more than anything, especially since there are no more 'demons' to hunt. Hiten Mitsurugi however... is very much the opposite. Its close up, in your face, if you're not fast enough you're going to die, kinda sword style. Hiko even told me that during earlier eras the most powerful assassins and man slayers used Hiten Mitsurugi. Now that I can believe opposed to the 'demon hunter' tale that Naro informed me of Motoko's style.

But as she cut the leaves in mid-air, I couldn't help but stare at how easily she did it, granted I can do it, but it takes a lot of practice to do it at such an early age. '_She is the heir to our school..._' Rang through my head again as I felt a pang of guilt, despite her blunt and rash attitude, towards the swordswoman in front of me. Suddenly I noticed she was reaching into her coat pocket, and pulled out a small knife.

"A SPY!" She shouted as she threw the knife right towards me, but I grabbed the ledge I was hanging onto as tight as I could, and launched myself over the ledge, and therefore the knife. As I landed on the 'platform' area Motoko sheathed her sword and crossed her arms. "First you chase girls, then you peep on people Himura." Motoko said as I remained quite, hey I was wrong this time, I was spying on her, I suppose. "Remember, I am not like Naru or the others, if you try anything funny on me..." She said as she slung her sheathed sword over her shoulder. "I'll have to force you out!" She said aggresively as she forced out a section of her sword out of its sheath with her thumb. "Got it?" She said as she began walking off.

"Yoohoo, Motoko-chan, Rurouni-kun!" We heard Su's voice come from out of nowhere, we both looked around for a lttle while before... "DINNER TIME!" Su shouted as she jumped out of the tree in front of Motoko, scaring her half to death. I watched as the shocked Motoko slipped and fell backwards from the shock of Su's sudden appearance. I quickly ran to Motoko's side and caught her before she hit the ground, but the position we were in was semi-awkward, it reminded of me of those wierd romance movies.

'Wow she's very light for her height...' I thought as I continued looking at her.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I noticed a huge blush appearing on Motoko's face before she began to struggle.

"Let go of me! I don't need your help, I can take care of myself!" She shouted as she began stomping off with Su. I stood there for a moment before I began following her back to Hinata Sou. Motoko slammed/slid the door open into Hinata Sou, and began walking into Hinata Sou, right in front of her sister.

"Hello their Motoko-chan." Tsuruko said as Motoko stormed by.

"Hello sister." Motoko said as she stormed up the stairs, leaving all of us in shock, while Tsuruko just smiled and put a finger on her left wrist.

"Three, two, one." She said as suddenly Motoko ran down stairs and stared in shock at her sister.

"SISTER! Wh-wh-what are you doing here?!" Motoko shouted as Tsuruko smiled.

"Well I came to visit my darling little sister, after all you don't call me at all anymore." Tsuruko said as we all sweat dropped. "And also Kenshin-kun over there invited me so that I could meet all of you." Tsuruko said as she pointed to me and I kinda looked scared at the moment.

"YOU INVITED MY SISTER!?" Motoko shouted as I shook my head back and forth.

"N-no! She actually invited herself in the last letter she sent me!" I shouted as Motoko's jaw dropped and she pointed an accusing finger at Tsuruko.

"LETTERS!? Sister have you no shame!? You're married... to a man... but married none the less!" Motoko shouted as Tsuruko just giggled.

"Oh please Motoko-chan, we are simply pen pals. Maybe I should tell you the little story that goes along with this." Tsuruko said as Motoko calmed down a bit and everyone sat around and listened to Tsuruko talk about how she started contacting me. "You see, one day I was going grocery shopping for my husband and the family, when all of a sudden my bird came swooping down. When I asked what was wrong it told me about a young man by the name of Kenshin Himura who was staying at Hinata Sou." Tsuruko said as everyone nodded at once and Motoko just cringed.

General POV

'Not this again, this happens everytime, my sister just comes right in, and practically entrances everyone she meets...' Motoko said as she looked at her sister. 'But that's what would have made her such an excellent head to the Shinmeiryuu school...' Motoko thought as she continued to listen.

:"Anyway, my bird told me that this Kenshin was the grounds keeper and resident 'samurai' of Hinata Sou. You see he caught my bird flying around Hinata Sou, watching all of you early in the morning." Tsuruko said non-chalantly as everyone sweat dropped. "He actually managed to capture my bird and told it 'That if his owner had any malicious intent towards the tenants of Hinata Sou they would have to answer to him'." Tsuruko said as Motoko's eyes widened and she looked at Kenshin.

'He actually said that to my sister, and through her bird no less!?' Motoko thought, and she thought about Kenshin her cheeks began turning a bit red. Motoko shook her head as she tried to stop thinking. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' Motoko thought as everyone continued listening to the story.

Kenshin POV

"So I wrote him a letter back, explaining everything, and ever since we have been trading letters back and forth with each other." Tsuruko said as suddenly there was a 'ding' sound coming from the kitchen.

"Oh dinner's ready everyone, please go to the table while I go get it." Shinobu said as she ran to the kitchen and we all began sitting in our respective seats, myself sitting besides Motoko. As Shinobu put the food around the table everyone began drooling over it. This wasn't dinner, it was a feast!

"My the food looks wonderful Shinobu-chan." Tsuruko said as she took a bite of food.

"Th-thank you Aoya..." Shinobu said before Tsuruko cut her off.

"Please, Tsuruko-chan or Tsu-chan will do." Tsuruko said as Shinobu nodded and everyone continued eating for a while, and everything was going normally. But then something happened, as I reached for the soy sauce I failed to noticed Motoko's hand was reaching for it too. Our hands touched for a little while as Motoko looked at me with this weird look. But then I remembered who I was dealing with so I snapped my hand back before it would be cut off.

"I'm sorry!" I shouted as Tsuruko looked at me with a weird look, yet understanding, look. Motoko simply 'humphed' before beginning to pour her soy sauce, but she didn't look like she was paying any attention and it began pouring out. "Isn't that a little too much soy sauce?" I asked as Motoko pulled the sauce back while Tsuruko simply giggled. Motoko then picked up the bowl of rice and ate even faster than Su, but not as fast as I could, and then slammed the plate on the table.

"I'm done eating!" Motoko shouted as I kinda stared.

"Umm... Motoko." I said as she glared at me.

"What? What do you want!?" She yelled causing me to be reduced to chibi-form.

"Well... umm... you have some rice on your..." I said as I pointed to a spot on my cheek. Motoko blushed viciously as she began running off... right into a pillar. As she was dazed from he bumping into the pillar she stummbled onto/into a bucket, and she walked off while trying to get the bucket off of her foot. We heard crashing sounds a few minutes later. "Did I say something wrong?" I asked as everyone stared at me with a 'Did you do something' look while Tsuruko and Su simply got up and began following Motoko.

General POV

Motoko dumped a bucket of warm water over her head in the hot springs as she tried to calm herself. The incident at dinner was so embarrassing, and what was confusing was why it was so embarrassing to her? I mean it was just some male, not like it was anyone important. "Dammit what's wrong with me..." Motoko muttered as she heard the sliding door open. She looked over to see her sister and Su coming into the hot springs with smiles on their faces.

"Well hello Motoko-chan, how are you?" Tsuruko asked as Motoko blushed and looked down. Tsuruko knew that all Motoko had wrong with her was a cold, and she knew that this was going to be wrong, but she couldn't resist the chance to tease her little sister. "What's wrong little sister, that thing at dinner, don't worry about it. I mean its not as if you goofed up in front of your lover or something. Right?" Tsuruko asked slyly as the blush on Motoko's face suddenly grew ten fold and her eyes widened.

'Jackpot.' Tsuruko thought as Su asked if Motoko was okay.

'Could she be right!? I mean I just looked at Himura and I got all nervous and I started blushing. My heart kept pounding and my mind kept going blank... there's no other explanation, this must be what the mangas and novels call... TRUE LOVE! Is this it!? But how can this be!?" Motoko thought as Su started hanging around her neck. Tsuruko watched in sheer joy as she watched her flustered little sister sink herself into the water. 'Now that I think about it I've been training every single day for fifteen years. I've never really spoken to a guy before, Kenshin's one of the first...' Motoko thought as Su kept jumping around her, begging her to play with her.

'But... yet... still...' Motoko thought as suddenly anger rose in her as Su cried on land and as Tsuruko just giggled.

"STILL I WILL NEVER ADMIT THAT YOU'RE... YOU'RE MY FIRST LOVE!!! KENSHIN HIMURA!!!" Motoko shouted as Tsuruko just started laughing and Su just stared at her.

Kenshin POV

"Yes did someone call for me?" I asked as I walked into the hot spring... right at the moment that Motoko, Su, and Tsuruko were naked... at least Tsuruko was in the water. I stared in fear as I looked at Motoko, hoping that her next move wouldn't be my last. Motoko just looked at me with a huge blush on her face as Tsuruko giggled more.

"Hello Kenshin-kun, would you like to join us we could use some company!" She shouted as the blush on Motoko's face (and the one on mine) increased. Motoko suddenly started shaking as I could only cower in fear of what could possibly happen next...

The Forest/Waterfall Area Behind Hinata Sou

It was difficult to describe how the entire residence of Hinata Sou and I ended up in the forest area behind Hinata Sou. Motoko, who didn't beat me to a pulp, suprisingly, told me that if I wished to redeem myself that I would meet her in the forest behind Hinata Sou in one half-hour. I did so, and when I arrived she was in her normal training, with two wooden bokens with her. The other tenants of Hinata Sou, and Tsuruko, sat on a different 'island' that was pretty far away from where Motoko and I were standing.

Motoko suddenly threw me the boken and pointed her's towards me. "Kenshin Himura, I officially challenge you! If you win, I'll forget about this whole buisness! But if I win, you better get the hell out of Hinata Sou!" She yelled suddenly as I stared at her intently, with slightly narrowed eyes.

General POV

"Can we stop them?" Naru asked as she turned towards Kitsune.

"I doubt anyone can stop Motoko." Kitsune said as she grinned.

"YAY! FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!" Su shouted as she waved around a few flags with Motoko's face on them.

"I hope Kenshin-kun will be alright." Shinobu said as she blushed.

'Maybe I teased Motoko a little... to much.' Tsuruko thought as she watched the upcoming battle. 'Though this will be a good way for me to measure Kenshin-kun's skills.' She thought as she narrowed her eyes.

Kenshin POV

I stared Motoko right in the eye for several seconds before I lifted the boken into the air, and threw it down onto the ground. Motoko smirked at this action, she was being cocky. "So you're giving up so quickly eh? What kind of Samurai are you?" She asked as she then gasped as I pulled my sheathed sword out of the sash on my robe and then took off the undershirt that was under the robe, which I noticed caused some blushing among the women.

I tore the undershirt into one long cloth and began tieing that cloth around the part of the sword where the sheath met the tsuba. I finished with a nice and firm knot and swung my sword around a few times. When I saw that the sheath would not come off of the sword I smirked as I turned my attention to Motoko. "My techniques are highly stressful ones, a wooden sword would probably break into pieces before even using five." I said as Motoko stared. "My sheath, though much tougher than wood, should cause no additional damage to you. If you wouldn't mind I would prefer to use it like this." I said as Motoko only grunted.

"It doesn't matter, I will defeat you! Even if you are a skilled swordsman, your style will not stand up to the Shinmeiryuu!" Motoko shouted as my eyes narrowed further.

"If that is so how about we place a little bet?" I asked as Motoko, and everyone else raised an eyebrow. "In conjunction with your victory conditions, I would like to bet one of my techniques to one of yours." I said as everyone's eyes widened. "If you win I'll teach you one Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu technique, and the ability to use the speed I do. However if by chance I win you must teach me a Shinmeiryuu technique, and the ability to control ki along with it. Do we have a deal?" I asked as Motoko glanced at Tsuruko, who only gave an affirmative nod.

"I accept you condition Himura, and may the best woman win!" She said as she got down into a stance.

"Your over-confidence shall be your downfall Aoyama-san." I said as I too got into my stance.

We both stood there for several seconds, waiting for the other to make the first move. However I proved to be far more patient than Motoko who began dashing fowards towards me. "Shinmeiryuu: Zanganken (Way of God's Cry: Stone Cleaving Sword)!" Motoko shouted as her sword became engulfed in Ki. I saw her move coming and quickly dodged out of the way, while Motoko's technique only managed to cut a boulder that was behind me in half. I quickly recovered from my jump and charged at Motoko. I swung my sheathed sword horizontally towards the meeting place of Motoko's shoulder and neck, hoping to end this fight in one swing. Motoko however recovered from her technique fairly quickly and brought up her boken to block it.

She and I clashed boken and sheathed sword for a little while, neither one of us gaining a decisive lead over the other. After my failed attempt to knock her out, Motoko took the liberty of forcing me back a couple feet, and went for a stab-like blow to the stomach. I quickly parried this and then sent the hilt of my sword into Motoko's stomach, causing her to lose her breath and step back a few feet. I then went for a similar stab-like attack, only this one was meant for her forehead, I just needed to knock her out. Motoko simply dodged her head to the side and then tried to land a vertical swing to my head, which I simply parried by thrusting my swords hilt into her shoulder, causing her attack to go off course.

I leapt back a few feet and stared her down while she nursed her shoulder. "You can't beat me in close range combat Aoyama-san, its something all users of Hiten Mitsurugi are specialized at!" I shouted at her as she glared.

"Thanks for the tip!" She shouted as ki once again surrounded her blade. "Shinmeiryuu: Zankuusen (Way of God's Cry: Air Cleaving Flash)!" Motoko shouted as she suddenly began creating circles in the air, which ended up sending Ki attacks hurdling towards me. I quickly jumped to the side, then to the other side, and even above the attacks to dodge them, I eventually just began running around, dodging her attacks with my superior speed, while I tried to think of a plan of action.

General POV

Everyone stared as they watched Keitaro and Motoko fight it out on that island. They were all completely silent, their attentions caught by the magnificence of the battle, as they watched me run to avoid Motoko's attacks. Tsuruko watched on in awe as well, she had expected Kenshin to be a fair fighter, however she did not expect him to be able to best Motoko in close, or any other kind of combat. 'Truly he is an extremely skills swordsman... maybe the idea of my sister getting together with him wasn't such a bad idea, would produce very powerful offspring.' Tsuruko thought as she continued to watch the battle.

Kenshin POV

I was getting very tired, very fast, of being 'shot' at by Motoko's attacks. By now I was getting very tired of running, and I could tell that whatever energy Motoko used for these attacks were not going to run out anytime soon. "Alright that's it, time for a counter attack!" I shouted as I began running straight towards Motoko. Motoko smirked at me as she launched one more of her Zankuusens at me. I was not able to use any Battojutsu in order to destroy the ki, so I was going to have to hope that another technique would work.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu: Ryusuisen (Super Sonic Sword Style: Dragon Hammer Strike)!" I shouted as I suddenly jumped twenty feet into the air, over the Zankuusen. Motoko stared in shock as she launched another Zankuusen up into the air at me. "ZAN (Tragedy)!" I shouted as I brought the sheathed sword into a more stabbing position, and as the Zankuusen approached I stabbed the sword as fast as I could, and as hard as I could into its center. The technique and my sheath fought each other for dominace, my sheath even cracked under the pressure, but the attack gave away, allowing me to go through.

Everyone stared in awe as I brough the sword into a position favoring the non-lethal vertical swing as I approached Motoko. I brought the sword down, only to have it blocked my Motoko. Then I did something no one saw coming. I brought my two feet up, and pushed off of Motoko's stomach, I landed a few feet back and Motoko stummbled and I brought up my sword for the next attack. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryusosen (Super Sonic Sword Technique: Dragon's Nest Strike)!" I shouted as I ran towards Motoko with my sword at my side, and when I took that first swing with the technique at her... something happend. Something that absolutely no one, not even Nostradamas, could predict. Even God stared in awe as he watched the fight, and demons screamed in pain as snow fell in hell as the event took place...

Motoko Ayoama, the heir to the Shinmeiryuu School... was being pushed back...

After the first swing of my technique Motoko was forced back a few steps as she blocked it, for she had not recovered from the push to the stomach. Then the following techniques, which held the God-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, forced her back even further, and further, and further. I could tell it was taking Motoko everything she had not to fall on her butt while blocking my insanely fast sword strikes. I eventually pushed her so far back that she was on the very edge of the island we were on. Motoko's arms were swinging around as she tried to maintain her balance. I simply smirked while I walked a bit closer, which incidentally caused her to blush, took a deep breath, and blew on her. That did it, Motoko couldn't keep her balance, she fell back into the water, completely.

I smirked as I put my sheathed sword back into the sash in my robe and began walking towards the other side of the island, to announce my victory over Motoko. When I felt a highly powerful Ki signature from behind me. I turned around and looked on with wide eyes as I watched the water blow around Motoko as strong gusts of wind forced them away from her. Motoko's eyes had become more demonic as she glared at me, pure rage behind the glare.

"**So you think you could make a fool out of me!**" She shouted as I looked on in shock. "**I will destroy you, you vile male!**" Motoko shouted as she rushed towards me. I tried desperately to get my sheather sword out of my sash, only to get it our half way before Motoko was right in front of me. Motoko began savagely beating me with her boken, hitting me in the ribs, arms, legs, hips, and even a few shots to the head. I was being bruised badly, and the spots where the bruises were bad enough even began bleeding a bit. Eventually Motoko drew her sword back and began charging Ki into it. "**Shinmeiryuu: Zankuusen!**" Motoko shouted as she drew a sword into the air... and a very powerful Zankuusen crashed into me, sending me several feet backwards. I landed with a loud thud, as Motoko's eyes went back to normal and she smirked.

But that smirk was quickly withdrawn when... I began standing up. I did so shakily, but I still managed to stand after some effort. I began chuckling as Motoko stared at me with an estranged look. "You think that beating was bad?" I asked as I looked at her with my non-bruised eyes. "You should see the ones I got while training with my father, now those were some intense beatings. I could barely even move my pinky toe when a day of his training was over." I said with a chuckle. "You wanna know what one of his pet names for me was?" I asked as she continued staring. "His pet name was Hiten Mitsurugi Ryusai (roughly translates to 'one who has mastered Super Sonic Sword Techniques'), you want to know why?" I said as Motoko nodded quickly.

"He called me that because I was able to create a combination of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu style techniques that had once knocked out my father in a spar. I hope that you enjoy it, it is going to be good." I said as I got out my sword and prepared for my technique. Everyone waited while I stood there, my eyes closed as I focused my energy into my entire body. And when I opened my eyes I saw the shocked look in Motoko's eyes.

General POV

'Those eyes... they're the same ones I saw in the hall... and his Ki... its completely changed...' Motoko thought as she stared.

Kenshin POV

My attack was ready, I launched myself fowards towards Motoko at my God-like speed. Motoko looked stunned at first but then she launched a Zankuusen at me. I smirked as brought my sword behind me. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Doryusen (Super Sonic Speed Sword Technique: Earth Dragon Strike)!" I shouted as I shoved my sword in the the ground, and flung several boulders towards the Zankuusen. The boulders and the Zankuusen cancled each other out in a minor explosion, as dust filled the spot where they hit. Motoko tried to see through the dust, and didn't notice me coming out of the top.

"Here is my technique Aoyama-san!" I shouted as she looked up to see me. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryusuishosen!" I shouted as I brought my sword down, to have it blocked by her again. But this time I didn't push her away, instead I ducked down underneath her. And I jumped up, and delivered an upward, double-handed slash to her stomach. As she coughed up her breath I began spinning into the air. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryukansen Arashi (Super Sonic Sword Technique: Dragon Spiral Strike Storm)!" I shouted as I began to bring my sword down.

General POV

Motoko closed her eyes, knowing that she couldn't possibly block Kenshin's attack. When she was expecting a hard hit, followed with a loud 'BAM'. But instead she felt a tap, and heard a minor 'plunk'. When she opened her eyes she saw Kenshin looking up at her, smiling his usual smile, his ki back to normal.

"Now Aoyama-san, do you honestly think I would hurt you too badly?" He asked as he smiled and reached up and ruffled Motoko's hair which caused her to blushed profusely.

Motoko was reminded of something from a long time ago... she was reminded of her spars with her sister. Every spar she would have with her sister would end the same way, her sister would have the ability to knock her out cold easily, but would always end up just tapping her and ruffling her hair... 'My God... am I really in love with this... this...' Motoko thought as she began to black out. The heat must've been affecting her head because her last thought was something so unlike Motoko it was scary. 'Honorable swordsman...' She thought as she collapsed onto Kenshin, who caught her as she fell.

Everyone on the other island was staring, this was the first time anyone, except Tsuruko, had seen Motoko defeaten. And to say they were shocked was a massive understatement, they were all practically frozen in shock as they looked on. Tsuruko was even shocked beyond belief, she did not expect the battle to turn out like this. She stared in awe at this young man who beat her sister. 'This was definetly a good trip to have made...' Tsuruko thought as she stared on.

Kenshin POV

I caught Motoko and lowered myself to the ground. I looked at Motoko's face and she was seriously red. I put my hand to her forehead and pulled it back, she was burning up. "Can someone help me! Motoko is seriously sick!" I shouted, forgetting about formalities, as everyone was snapped out of their shock and ran foward as they gathered around me and helped me life Motoko up, and carry her back to Hinata Sou.

General POV

Motoko woke up with a very bad headache and she felt like she was on fire. She tried to move only to find several hands stopping her. She opened her eyes to see all of the tenants of Hinata Sou, except for Kenshin and Keitaro, around her with worried looks in their eyes. "Motoko you shouldn't move so much you have a really bad cold!" Shinobu shouted as Motoko sniffled and looked at her.

"A cold?" She asked as Naru put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead.

"Yeah, but that's what you get for practicing out in the rain!" Su shouted as Motoko sighed what sounded like a sigh of relief.

'Good it wasn'y my first love...' Motoko thought, though she didn't find that thought as comforting as she thought she would. Motoko looked around for Kenshin again, but couldn't find him anywhere.

"Where is Himura anyway?" Motoko asked in a raspy as everyone looked at her sort of shocked before shaking themselves out of it.

"He's upstairs in his room being taken care of by Keitaro-san." Naru said as Motoko nodded. "You did hurt him pretty badly, Tsuruko here said that you must've at least broken a few ribs, and possibly even gave him a concussion." Naru also said as Motoko looked over at her sister who was smiling at her.

"You did well, even with that cold little sister. You are becoming an excellent swordswoman." Tsuruko said which shocked Motoko at first, but then she smiled a bit.

'But Kenshin Himura... was apparently better...' Tsuruko thought a she smirked. 'I'm going to have to keep an eye on him.' Tsuruko thought as everyone began talking to Motoko. Then everyone began hearing sounds coming from the kitchen, sounded almost like a struggle.

"I'm telling you Kenshin-san you should be resting, those are some pretty serious injuries." They heard Keitaro's voice say as they kept on listening.

"And I'm telling you Keitaro-san that I have had worse, and that I'll be able to handle myself, that I can." They heard Kenshin's voice say in the next instant as suddenly Kenshin came through the door.

Kenshin POV

As I walked in wearing my full usual attire (not including the bandages wrapped around my head.), everyone stared at me with a bit of worry as I walked over with a cup of tea in my hands. I kneeled down beside Motoko and started lifting her head up. Everyone kinda stared at me with wide eyes as they watched Motoko struggle a bit. "Don't worry, my father used this tea on me whenever I was sick, trust me it will knock your cold right out." I said as she stopped struggling. I slowly allowed the tea to drain into her mouth, as she drank every last drop. As she finished swallowing she looked at me with a strange look.

"Why are you doing this? I nearly tried to destroy you.. and you try to help me get better?" Motoko asked me as I smiled at her and ruffled her head, which caused her red face to get even more red.

"Aoyama-san, why wouldn't I do it. If anyone here were sick I would do the same for them, because you all are really my new family now." I said earning; a blush from Shinobu, a giggle from Su, a smile from Naru, a cocky smile from Kitsune, a smile from Keitaro, and... a wierd looking smile from Tsuruko. And finally a long stare, followed up with her whole face turning red from Motoko. Though in the next instant that red, turned from red to light pink. I put my hand on her forehead and she felt immediately cooler than she had a few minutes ago.

"Well it appears I made the recipe correctly, and if I am correct you can sit up now Motoko." I said as everyone's jaws dropped as they watched Motoko sit up in the futon, a bit easily at that. She felt her own forehead and then looked over at me with wide eyes. "My father wasn't just great at making Sake." I said as I picked up the glass and put it back on the tray. "By the looks of it one more dose should do it. Just sit tight and I'll make another brew of it. After all I want you better by tomorrow." I said as I began walking away.

"Why do you want me better by tomorrow?" Motoko asked as I turned around to smile at her.

"Well after all, tomorrow you have to hold up your end of the bargain and teach me a Shinmeiryuu technique." I said as suddenly Motoko's jaw dropped as I walked through the door. I couldn't wait for my new technique.

General POV

Motoko sat there shocked out of her mind, she had forgotten about having to teach Kenshin a technique tomorrow. She looked at her sister who shrugged. "Don't look at me, I'm leaving tomorrow morning." She said as Motoko just sighed and looked towards the door Kenshin had left in. She decided that she had made that bet with Kenshin, and like an honorable swordswoman, she was going to hold up her side of the bargain. After all now it was the least she could do after what he was doing... wait did she think that?

Kenshin POV

I walked back into the room where Motoko was as she looked up to me. I walked over and handed her the cup of tea as she drank it down faster than before. When she was done she looked at me seriously. "Tomorrow, I want to see you in the forest behind Hinata Sou at six in the morning. Be ready for your training." Motoko said as she laid the glass down. "Now if everyone wouldn't mind, I feel exhausted and need some rest." She said as everyone nodded and left the room.

I went back to Keitaro's and my room and laid down in my futon. I set the alarm clock for five-thirty in the morning, figuring I would need the extra sleep for whatever Motoko had planned for training. I still couldn't wait for my new technique.

5:45 In The Morning: The Forest Behind Hinata Sou

I could barely sleep last night. After mastering all of the techniques in the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, I always wanted to learn new moves. Sure I created my own, and still could if I tried hard enough, but I wanted to have a little bit of variety when it came to techniques, not having all of them within the same style. I waited for fifteen minutes, swinging my sword for pratice until Motoko would show up and teach me the new technique. Eventually, fifteen minutes later, right on schedule, Motoko showed up... but strangely her sword was not with her. I walked foward and bowed to her while she just stared at me.

"Today I'll be teaching you two things." She said as I looked up and smiled. "I will be teaching you how to use ki in your techniques." She said as my anticipation built up. "And then... I'll teach you the Gurenken (Red Lotus Fist), a Shinmeiryuu ken (fist) attack." Motoko said as I stared at her. She got me, I was expecting a sword attack, but this would be good. After all I didn't way which style move she had to give me. "Now then to begin with I want you to sit under that waterfall in a medatation position, I'll call you out when you're ready." Motoko said as I nodded, and began taking off the upper half of my robe.

General POV

Motoko stared as Kenshin took of the upper hald of his robes. She watched with a slight blush as he threw them in random places among the ground, and then leapt to the waterfall. Motoko tried to get any thoughts out of her head, and tried to watch Kenshin with a straight face. But watching him in a medatation position with no shirt on, shivering from the cold while the water from the falls cascaded down his physically fit and trim body... Motoko slapped herself twice and banged her head on a tree a few times.

'The cold must be still effecting my thinking...' Motoko thought as she continued watching Kenshin mediate under the waterfall for the next few hourse. It was noon, in fact, and Motoko still continued to watch Kenshin for any sign of his Ki being released. Shinobu came by earlier, and after blushing profusely at the half naked rurouni, gave Motoko two boxes of food, saying that it was meant for them. As Shinobu walked away Motoko turned her attention back towards Kenshin... and was treated to an unexpected suprise.

Though the water was still coming down hard, none of it was touching Kenshin. Motoko looked and it appeared that he had done it, his body was releasing the ki to force the cold water from the waterfall, and the pressure caused by it, away from Kenshin's body. He must've meditated before cause this was one of the fastest times she had seen. Most people it took one or two whole days to release they're ki (though she and her sister had done it in much less). Motoko smirked as she picked up a rock and threw it at Kenshin's forehead. Causing him to lose focus, and therefore, lose the ki that was surrounding him, causing him to become completely soaked.

"Alright get out, you're done." Motoko said as Kenshin raised an eyebrow and walked out, shaking himself every now and then to get the cold water off of him.

Kenshin POV

I didn't really like the entire getting showered with cold water treatment Motoko gave me. And what's more I really didn't feel too different, I felt cold, but shouldn't be too odd seeing as I was just hit by water fall water. "Motoko are you sure we're done, I mean I don't feel too different." I said as Motoko smirked and pointed at me.

I want you to focus energy into your fists, focus as much as you can." Motoko said as I raised my eyebrows. "Just do it." Motoko said as I shurgged and began doing as she told me. I closed my eyes and began doing as she said, focusing my energy into my fists. At first there was nothing, I just felt the same as always whenever I focused, but then I felt something... warmth. I opened my eyes to see my hands engulfed in the same energy Motoko used last night in our battle.

"Go ahead, try punching that rock." Motoko said as she pointed to a rock. I didn't bother argueing with her and walked over to the rock and hit it with everything I had. The results suprised me as the rock cracked in several places, without my hand even feeling like it hit anything. I stared in awe at my hand while Motoko simply yawned and picked up two boxes. "Here." She said as she threw me a box. "This is your lunch, Shinobu made it for you." She said as I nodded. "Well see you later." Motoko said as my jaw dropped to the ground.

"Wait you mean there's nothing else!" I yelled as she kept on walking.

"Nope." She said as she opened her box of lunch.

"Not a cool sparring mach or some teacher to student talk?" I asked as she ate some rice.

"Nope." She said as she then ate a piece of chicken.

"Not even a sports montage (I could not resist)!?" I said as she nodded.

"Nope." She said as I sighed.

"Can you at least give me any tips?" I asked as she tapped her chin with her finger.

"Yes, learn some hand-to-hand combat for that move." She said as she suddenly spinted off, leaving me with a dry shirt and robe, and a wet everything else. I sighed as I opened my own box of lunch and decided to go back to my room. I finished my lunch as I laid down in my futon and stared at the ceiling.

"'Learn some some hand-to-hand combat for that move' where am I supposed to..." I said as a light bulb appeared above my head and the memory of a martial arts dojo I had passed by during my first day living here came to my mind. I shot up off the futon, picked up my bag of money, and ran through the streets of Hinata City, to get to the dojo I had remembered. When I arrived I got a better look at the outside then I first had. It was very old, and apparently not taken care of too well.

'Beggers can't be choosers.' I thought as I entered the dojo. It was as old, broken apart, and dusty as the outside. I walked around a bit till someone walked into the room, what they looked like I couldn't tell due to the poor lighting in the room.

"Who are you?" He asked in a calm, but definetly powerful voice.

"My name is Kenshin Himura, and I wish to enroll at this dojo, may I ask who you are?" I asked as he stepped foward into the sunlight provided by the outside. And I was shocked and scared at the same time. The man stood easily a couple feet taller than me. He was just about as pale as I was, though you really wouldn't pay attention to that. He wore baggy white pants, with black straps tieing the ends down to his ankles. His shoes were mostly black, with white sock type things. He wore an opened red, black, and white jacket, with nothing underneath. He also wore a red head band to keep the reddish, spiked hair from falling all about. His hair actually remined me of a roosters. I would also tell that he had the kanji for 'Evil' on his back.. by way of the reflection of the giant zanbato he carried on his back.. oh yeah did I forget to mention that.

He stared me down with blackish eyes before smirking at me. "Well as for if you can enter my dojo, yeah as long as you can pay... as for my name..." He said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Is Sanosuke Sagara. And don't you forget it." He said as I stared in awe.

CLIFFHANGER!!! OMG SANOSKE! WHAT IS HE DOING HERE! Find out next time on LH: KTK!!! R&R!!!!!


	8. The Man Who Carries His World

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Hey there all, Arganaut here again, with the latest chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper. Anyway last chapter, a new crossover character, Sanosuke Sagara, into the ever growing cast of Love Hina. Now then, there is a little something I want to ask you all a little something...

WHO SHOULD SANO BE PAIRED UP WITH!!??

Kitsune-

Mutsumi-

Or anyone else that is close to their age besides Naru-

Who you pick here, will be a step towards who Kenshin will ultimately be paired up with, and yes, despite the MoxKenshin I showed last chapter Kenshin's pairing is still undecided for comedic purposes, besides I also showed some ShinxKenshin two chapters ago, and I'm already planning arcs for the other characters as given to me by the manga. Oh, and here are the results of the polls so far;

Kitsune- 2

Mutsumi- 0

Kitsune has pulled ahead into the lead by one vote.

Anyway, onto the reviews;

Infinite Freedom- Well Sano will be hanging around Hinata Sou... but how he'll end up there... you'll just have to wait and see.

manevan- Well I have put your vote in, and thank you for voting so early.

charles ho- Well my battles do tend to become very intense my friend. But like I said before, the MoxKenshin relationship is not set in stone yet, do not forget that I have taken the first step in a ShinXKenshin relationship as well. And there will be other characters coming soon. One of our little favorites might be coming sooner than you think.

Raenef the 6th- Well then you'll definetly want to read this chapter to answer that question.

ftayao- I already said he learnt those moves (remember to recieve the title 'Hiko Seijuro' you have to master those two moves). And later I will, but for now this is good. And I already messenged you on that.

Malicieu- Thank you for the huge compliment sir, and I am honored that you would think my story should be story of the month. It is a huge compliment, and like I said before, I thank you for it.

paintball-gamer- Well thanks for voting, and trust me, I will continue all of my stories, not matter what.

Well, with all of the reviews to the side, I think its time that I make one more anouncment... SANO POV HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE STORY! So now, please enjoy the next thrilling chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper.

Chapter 8: The Man With His World On His Shoulders

Sano POV

Most people's earliest memories usually are of themselves as children, playing with their brothers and sisters, and even hanging out with their mother and father. My earliest memory... was being sent away from them. My family was a very poor family, never having more than enough money to pay the bills and to pay for food. I was the oldest of two children, my only sibling being my little sister, Uki, who adored me. The reason my earliest memory was being sent away was that my mother had become pregnant with a third child.

Everyone in the family knew that we could not afford to feed another member of the family, so my parents had me placed in foster care, forcing me to leave the little sister I had loved so very much. I had been moved to Nara, where I stayed for a time, living with my foster family in peace. Well that only lasted until I joined the infamous Yakuza, a 'organized crime' gang in Japan. This is where I met my friend Katsuhiro Tsukioka, and the man who would become a father figure to me, Sozo Sagara, whose family name I would take after a few years.

Sozo was the 'leader' of our particular section of the Yakuza, he was a man who conducted buisness well. But eventually I left that life, those foster parents, and the city of Nara behind after Sozo was killed during a raid on a particular drug ring, who had not paid us what they owed. During our raid the police barged in on us, killing any druggie, or Yakuza thug they could see. Sozo got Katsuhiro and I out of their in time, but he was killed in the process. After that Katsushiro and I agreed that we should get the hell out of Nara, and out of this buisness.

I went back home, to my family, only to find that we weren't too much of a family any more. My mother, who had treated me very well in the time I was with her, had died shortly after giving birth to my little brother. My father... that god damned bastard, just dropped after that, he stopped working, he stopped doing anything for the family. My little sister, who I had loved, and who had adored me, was being forced to work job after job just to make end's meat. And the third member of the family, who had been named Outa, was put into another foster family by my sister.

"He deserved more than this life." My sister had told me as I watched her wash the dishes the first night I had come back. He had been sent out of the country, suprisingly, to North Korea, South Korea border, where I now assume him to be dead, with the confilct that still goes on there to this day. I had left that house, and my family after that day, I could not bare to be a son to that ing slobbish excuse for a man. After I left I tried to go straight, find a good job and earn some honest money. But that ideal was squashed when I could not get a job, due to my lack of education, and the fact that many people were put off by my size.

It was then I became part of the Yakuza once more, taking on the job of a hitman. I had killed many men, growing stronger with each fight, with each kill, and each day I trained. On one of these particular assignments I gained my Zanbato, a weapon I still use to this day. I was very famous among the Yakuza as a hitman. I could commit a murder on my own, without any help, which made it almost impossible for the police to track me down, after all, no snitch, no one squeals, use gloves, no fingerprints, no way the cops can find me.

I remember my most famous hit to date. I was ordered to kill these two drug runners who weren't quite paying what they owed, this time, as most always during this time, there was no chance for the police to get involved. I got there and I killed the guards surrounding the two with my gloved hands, I usually saved my Zanbato for the ones I'm supposed to kill. After I killed the last guard, I caught my two targets and tied them up and gagged them. I then proceeded to hack the first one to death with my Zanbato. I went to finish the other one, only to find that he went through a shock convulsion, and choked to death on the gag I used on him. (I dare you to tell me where I got this famous kill from)

I was one of the most famous hitmen in the Yakuza, I was often called Zanba, after the Zanbato I used to kill my victims. But.. alas I was also quite famous within the police ranks, and I was caught by the police during a secret undercover operation, a cop had pretended to be the man I was ordered to kill, and I was caught in the act... apparently one of the Yakuza who hired me got caught and got a bit of a bargain... anyway I was kept in jail for one week. Why so short a time you ask? Well that was before my long time friend, Katsuhiro, who had become quite adept at building explosives for Japan's construction and military technology, blew me out of jail, freeing me.

After that I changed my last name to Sagara, knowing full well that if I kept my father's name I would be very much easier to track down. I then fled to Hinata City, where I opened up a dojo with what little of the 'dirty' money I had left. Alas, this buisness venture did not go over so well either, as it seemed that no one in this city had any interest in learning to fight. So I stayed in that dojo, making ends meat through the occasional person who thought they could handle my lessons, as well as a few other odd jobs. During that time I had not only become even stronger, but I also developed my own style of close-combat.

My name now is Sanosuke Sagara, I am 24 years old...

Today started off as an aweful day for me. When I woke up this morning there was instantly a call coming from the telephone, and when I picked up the phone to answer it I immediately got news that I did not like at all. The bank was planning on shutting me down, kicking me out, for I had not made a payment, or completed one of the many payments, for that matter, for quite sometime. I could not afford to be evicted, not only did I not have enough money to get out of this city, but also I would rather die than beg my little sister, or that bastard, for money. I needed money and fast, but the odd jobs I normally did were no longer around. I was just about to 'get the match and gasoline' before I heard someone walking into my dojo.

I went outside to see this pint-sized, red head kid, of about fifteen if I had to guess, standing in front of me wearing some old traditional clothes, as well as a katana on his hip. "Who are you?" I asked, trying to sound as intimidating as I possibly could. I could see the kid swallowing a lump in his throat as he answered.

"My name is Kenshin Himura, and I wish to enroll in your dojo, may I ask who you are?" The kid asked me as I stepped foward, and watched as his eyes went wide at my very powerful physique.

Maybe today was just starting to get a little better. "Well as for if you can enter my dojo, yeah as long as you can pay me... as for my name..." I said as I combed my hand through my hair. "Is Sanosuke Sagara, and don't you forget it." I said with a cocky undertone as he stared in awe at me.

Kenshin POV

I stare in awe at the man known as Sanosuke that stood in front of me. I have never seen a japanese man with as many muscles as him, save for my father and his friend. I continued staring before I realized that he had accepted me as his student. I stood straight and then bowed in front of him. "Thank you Sagara-san, I will do my best as your student to learn your lessons, no matter how hard they may be." I said as he suddenly chuckled and I looked up at him.

"You sure you wanna make that kind of promise kid?" He asked as I nodded and he sighed while shaking his head. "Okay then, the tuition is 11,800 yen (about 100 U.S. dollars)." He said as my jaw dropped.

"11,800 yen, that's robbery!" I shouted as he shrugged.

"Do you want me to teach you or not?" He said as I grummbled, reached into my pouch, and pulled out 5,000 yen. He counted the money and when he was satisfied he put it in his pocket. "Alright then follow me into my weight room then." He said as I raised my eyebrow and he walked through a door that was opposite of the room he came in from. I watched for a moment before following him into the room... what I saw made my jaw drop. In the room were several sets of bars and dumbbells, each one with several weights on them, so many that they were all bent at the middle.

I stared as he lifted up one dumbbell with ease, that had at least five 25 pound weights on each side. He threw the weight into my arms and I caught it... before dropping to the ground because of the immense weight of it. I looked up at him with an look of 'are you insane' before speaking. "Are you insane?! There's..." I said as I began standing. "No..." I said as I got up on both feet and began pulling on the weight till I turned purple. "Way I'm going to be able to lift this thing!" I said as I struggled to get the weight up to chest level.

"Hmmm..." He said as he looked at me with his finger on his chin. "You're right." He said as he reached towards the dumbell, on took off one 25 pound weight on each side. "There you go, now work with that." He said as I just stared at him. "I want fifty regular curls with each arm, then I want you to do fifty uppercut punches with each arm fifty times." He said as I looked at him with widened eyes.

"You can't be serious... can you?" I asked as he looked at me with stern eyes.

"I'm dead serious, now get to work you slacker." Sanosuke said as he left me in the weight room. Not being one to just disobey a direct order, especially from someone who could beat me to a pulp, I began doing what he asked me to do, despite the amazing weight that was on these dumbbells I was sure that I could do them, at least pretty well... oh boy. It was about a half-hour later when Sanosuke returned, he laughed as he watched me with my hands at my sides, struggling to bring them up to punch with the weights.

"Fi---ft---y... ugh!" I gasped as I dropped the weights down beside me and my arms hanged loose beside my body. My arms felt like spaghetti noodles, so stringy and weak. I looked at Sanosuke with a, what I hoped to be, exhausted look, as he smirked at me. "You know, most people would think it cynical of someone to enjoy watching someone go through that..." I said as his smirked widened even more, making him look even more intimidating.

"You know you're not the first one to say that." He said as I raised an eyebrow. "I must've had at least twenty people come through here, thinking they had what it took to go through my training program. They all stayed till the end, but never came back the next day, or the day after that, or so on and so forth." Sanosuke said as I stared at him a little bit. "Anyway I don't expect you to be any different. I expect you to go back to wherever you came from, and forget that my place ever even was." He said, making my eyes slightly widen from insult. "Anyway, you're at least going to finish the rest of the day so come on, we're going outside." Sanosuke said as I followed him outside.

We walked outside, and he pointed towards two concrete blocks with a bunch of straps at the bottom. I looked at him and he pointed to the blocks again. I sighed as I walked over, took off my sandals, and stood on top of the blocks... that's when he rushed over, and strapped my feet so tight that not only could I not feel the blood circulating in my feet, and I could not slip out of them. He then walked over to some concrete blocks that were at least one and a half times the size of my blocks, and strapped himself in.

"Well, come on, we have to go around the block." He said as I sighed a sigh of relief. "Twice." He said as I muttered a curse under my breath as he took off at a brisk running pace. I tried to run as well... but found myself unable to move the incredibly heavy blocks. I stood there, struggling for several minutes before dragging one of the blocks an inch. Picking up on that momentum I began dragging each block a few inches at a time, trying to get caught up with him. "You're just getting started?" He said as I looked behind me to see him coming around the corner. "I'm on my second lap." He said as he ran past, leaving me to struggle just to move.

Sano POV

I finished finished my second lap in about one-half hour, the weight I was using weren't heavy, at all. I took off my weights off of my feet and sat there, waiting for the guy, Kenshin, to come back around. I saw him coming back around, to finish his first lap. I sighed as I prepared to tell him to stop... he kept on going. I hadn't seen anything like it before, usually the people I put through it would stop on the first lap and beg for me to take of the weights... I had to say... this kid was impressive. I watched him as he kept going around the block, and waited for him to finish his second lap.

Kenshin POV

It was a couple hours later when I finished my final lap around the block, I dragged myself, and the blocks on my feet back to where we started, and saw that Sanosuke had fallen asleep waiting for me. I dragged myself up beside him and looked down at him as he woke up and stared at me. "What?" He said as I pointed down at my feet and he looked back at my feet. "Oh, alright I'll get those off... but you may want to brace yourself for a fall." He said as he began unstrapping me and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait, a fall, what are yo--AHHHH!" I shouted as he untied the final strap, and I fell to the ground. My legs had gone limp, and had become essentially as useless as France in a war (OH SNAP!). He suddenly grabbed me and picked me up and heaved me over his shoulder, as if I weighed absolutely nothing.

"Come on, there's more work to be done." Sanosuke said as I raised an eyebrow.

"What? You've already killed my arms and my legs, what else could you possibly do to me?" I asked as I shrugged, nearly causing him to drop me.

"Well let's see, we've still got to work on you're back muscles, your chest muscles, and your stomach muscles. So yeah, we still have a little more work to do." He said as I began sweating bullets.

'Oh boy...' I thought as he carried me back inside.

A Few Hours Later, Lunch Time

... It was a few hours later when we finally stopped, I laid upon the floor of his gym, my body hurting all over. "Uuuuuhhhh." I moaned as I laid on the floor, unable to get up, or even move my pinky toe. Sanosuke stood over me with raised eyebrows as he looked at me.

"Hey kid look on the bright side, you did better then most people." Sanosuke said as I slowly twirled my hand around, as painful as it was.

"Woopee..." I said as he laughed.

"I suppose you'll want me to get you home in time for lunch." He said as I nodded, painful, once again.

"Yes please." I muttered out as he slung me over his shoulder and walked out of the dojo onto the streets. He looked around and looked up towards the sun, since he didn't have a clock in his dojo (probably from not having enough money to buy one), so he had to look at the sun to get a good idea of the time. "By the looks of it it is about... ten minutes till noon, we'd better hurry." He said as he began walking down the street. "So where do you live anyway?" He asked as I tried to mummble out my answer, without success. "Come again?" He said as he stopped in the middle of the street.

"Hinata Sou..." I said as he looked at me with widened eyes.

"Wait, so you're one of those two guys I heard about that moved into the all-girl's dormitory, and now live there with all of those hot women." He said as I shrugged and nodded. He kept on walking with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "Lucky bastard." He said as he continued carrying me down the street, back to Hinata Sou.

Hinata Sou

General POV

All of the Hinata Sou residents were sitting around the dinning room table, it was normal, or custom, for them to wait for everyone to come down to eat. There were sounds of growling coming out of everyone's stomachs. Everyone was sitting there, suffering slightly, while Motoko was tapping her foot on the ground. Suddenly Motoko stood up and slammed her hand on the table, shaking all of the dishes. "Where the hell is he!? He knows that it is time for lunch!" She shouted as everyone, secretly, agreed with her.

Then, suddenly, the sound of the front sliding door resounded through the rooms. Motoko stood up and began moving towards the door. "Motoko, where are you going?" Naru said as everyone nodded.

"I'm going to give that male a piece of my mind!" Motoko shouted as she stormed into the front of the house. It was only a few seconds later... "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" Everyone heard Motoko shout as they stormed into the front room as well... only to be treated to the sight of seeing Kenshin, slung over a tall, muscular man.

Sano POV

Oh. My. God. I was in guy heaven. Here I was, standing in front of... let me see, one, two, three hot girls, and two little teens... and one nerdy lookin' guy... how is it that he and these two got the chance of a lifetime like this... well, anyway, three out of five girl's isn't bad. I continued to stare while they stared at me as well. "I ask again male, who the hell are you?!" The one in the red and white robe said as I raised an eyebrow at her rudeness.

"Well, I'm this guy's trainer." I said as everyone 'ah'ed. "I worked him so hard that he just eventually just couldn't move anymore." I said as a auburn haired girl walked up to me and smiled. I stared at her rack as I dropped the kid to the floor and started tapping my chin with my finger.

"Thank you sir, thank you for..." The auburn hair girl began saying till she looked at me with a slightly ticked off look. "Are you looking at my chest?!" The girl said as I continued tapping my chin.

"Are those real?" I asked as suddenly everyone in the room began blushing. "I mean, if those are real, good job." I said as the auburn haired girl gained a deeper blush. "I mean I've never seen real ones so big before!" I said as she began shaking and she drew her fist back. "Except for that one chick in Nara when I was younger..." I muttered as I noticed she was shaking.

"PERVERT!" The auburn haired girl shouted as she lunged her fist towards my face. I quickly caught her right hook with my left hand, as I continued to tap my chin with my right hand.

"Oh... my... God!" One of the three hot girls, who looked like a fox at first glance, said as she stared (I think) at me and as the girl in the red and white kimono just glared at me.

"H-h-h-he caught Naru's punch!" The blue haired teen girl said as the blond, foreign looking, friend just stared in amazement. "N-n-n-no-no one has ever caught one of Naru's punches!" The same girl said as I continued 'researching'.

"You sure you didn't have implants put in?" I asked as she drew her other fist back and tried to slug me. I of course caught that one with my right hand and continued observing.

"You vile male!" The one in the red and white robes shouted as she drew her sword out. "I'll destroy you!" The girl shouted as she ran for me. I pushed the auburn haired girl out of the way as the red robed girl tried to chop my head off with a swing to my neck. But, I skillfully caught the sword in between the index finger and thumb of my left hand, shocking everyone once again, and then used my right hand to tap my chin again... something was... off about the auburn haired girl, and this red robed one, however physically developed they may be.

"How old are you two?" I asked as they looked at me in shock.

"Fifteen." Motoko said, still trying to get over the fact that her blade had been caught.

"Seventeen..." Naru said, trying to get over the fact that not only had Motoko's blade been caught, but that her own punch had been caught. Ouch... no wonder.

"Oh, man." I said as I let the sword girl's sword go. "And I thought you two were at least eighteen, with busts like those." I said as they glared at me with eyes burning with anger. "Well, now that's over with." I said as I lifted Kenshin over my shoulders, again, and saw that those two were still very annoyed with me. "Are we going to sit here or what? Tell me where I can put this guy." I said as the nerdy guy stepped forwards, obviously a bit afraid of me. "And who are you all, I would like to now the names of the people who nearly attacked me." I said as the nerdy guy with glasses nodded.

"He-hello, my name is Keitaro Urashima." He said as he bowed. "The two you just met are Naru Narusegawa." He said, pointing to the angry aurburn haired girl. "Motoko Aoyama." He said, pointing to the angry red robed girl. "And they are Koalla Su, Shinobu Maehara, and Mitsune Konno, we just call her Kitsune." Keitaro said as he pointed to each person he named. Shinobu blushed, apparently from my earlier comments, Su was just all smiles, and Mitsune was giving him raised eyebrows, as well as plain old open eyes.

"Well its been nice being introduced to you all, but carrying this kid is becoming a pain in the ass." I said, making the blue haired girl blush, and the others look at me with a slightly pissed look. "Where can I put him down?" I asked as Keitaro pointed towards one of the doors.

"Into the kitchen, put him at a chair, and then you can go." He said as I nodded and walked on through, though the one known as Kitsune stepped forward and stopped me.

"Hey, why haven't you guessed my age? Aren't you interested in learning my age? Do I really look that old?" Kitsune asked as I sighed.

"Because I could already tell you were older then a high school graduate. I mean, after all..." I said as I sniffed the air around her. "You reek of Sake." I said as I walked passed her, but before I could go much further, she got in front of me, and tapped my peck a few times. When she was done I raised an eyebrow at her. "Why'd you do that?" I asked as she got a smirk on her face.

"Just wanted to see if they were real hon." She said as she winked and I raised my eyebrow.

However I just sighed and walked past her, and into the apparent kitchen/dinning room area. I saw the table set up, and there was one chair that was not pulled out, obviously his seat. I walked over, and put him in the seat, and then walked out. They watched me as I left and as I reached the front door I looked back at all of them with a stern look, causing some of them to flinch. "Oh, and before I forget, my name is Sanosuke Sagara. Tell Kenshin that if he wishes to continue my training to come back tomorrow, or whenever he gets better..." I said as we all heard the sound of dishes clattering in the other room. "Which by the sounds of it is now..." I said as I smirked and left Hinata Sou, very interested in what I saw there today.

Kenshin POV

'Oh my head...' I thought as I began coming to. When we came into Hinata Sou, that is Sanosuke and myself, he seemed to notice the girl's pretty quickly. Try as I might have to gain the strength to speak, before something happened that would, inevitably, knock me out cold, as it always does, I could not get a word out. Why you ask? Because Sanosuke dropped me onto the floor, and I hit my head on the floor, probably what lead me to go out cold.

Now then, what lead me to come out of my semi-coma? Well... it could be the delicious smell I'm smelling right now. I opened my eye, ignoring the nagging headache I had... and saw one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my entire life. There was food, lots of food... and not just any food, I could tell that it was Shinobu's cooking. Now, between Motoko's training, the wait between meals, and Sanosuke's training, I had gained a huge hunger for Shinobi's great cooking.

I knew that I was supposed to wait for the other tenants to come in and eat... but I need... the food! So I grabbed my plate, shoved pieces of food onto it, and began digging in. I began just shoveling some of the noodles into my mouth, when I heard the door open and looked behind me. I stared at the other tenants, who were, glaring, at me while their stomachs were growling. I sweat dropped as I stared at them. I slurrped the noodles up into my mouth and stared at them with a slight smile. "Hey guys... what's up?" I asked as some of them began cracking their necks. "Uh oh." I said as I was ambushed by Motoko, Naru, and Kitsune. I was just glad they were too hungry to put too much of their power into their blows.

So after the... first beating of the day, we all dug into Shinobu's cooking, all of us were very, very hungry. I was hungry from all of that training, and I think everyone else was hungry from waiting for me to show up to lunch. But after that, the days went back into its normal paces. We all went our seperate ways for a while, Motoko to her training grounds, Shinobu went to her lab, Shinobu.. well I'm not sure where she goes, Naru, Keitaro, and I went to studying, and Kitsune... oh hell who knows.

But, the next day I did something I'm pretty proud of. The next day, in the morning, I went over to Sanosuke's dojo, and when I arrived I found him asleep in his room in the broken down dojo. I woke him up with a bucket of water, and that woke him up well, and when he woke up and saw me, he stared at me before yawning and speaking. "Hey, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked as I smiled at him as I put the bucket down.

"Well, I paid to be trained, and I'm going to be trained." I said in a cocky tone as he blinked a few more times, before smirking and getting out of his bed, and we began the tiring training again.

November 31 - The End of The Month

Sano POV

I was walking down the street that morning, carrying my breakfast in a plastic bag with me. I couldn't afford a good breakfast some mornings, so I would just go for fast food some mornings. I have to say, that Kenshin kid isn't as bad as I thought he would be. He's been consistently showing up to my lessons every morning, hell I had to get a new sleeping schedule just to keep up with him. Anyway, that yen I got from him was pretty helpful, it couldn't pay off all of my debt, but they did say it would hold them off... for a little bit.

But anyway, the new kid, Kenshin, he's definetly had some kind of training before, even if his body doesn't show it at first glance. He's been taking my exercises like a man, and he's only fifteen. I know men who tried to fufill my training regiment who ended up crying for they're mommies to make it stop. But that's besides the point. He should be coming back this morning so I'd best hurry back to the dojo. As I reached the front of my dojo I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the key to my place. I locked it on my way out to prevent theft, but then again there isn't too much to steal anyway.

I put the key into its keyhole, but when I tried to turn the lock, the lock wouldn't turn. 'Maybe I forgot to lock the door?' I thought as I put the key back into my pocket and began trying to turn the knob. When the knob would budge I tried turning it harder, nearly tearing off the entire freaking door. I was just about to bust it down when I looked up and saw a piece of paper that was posted on my door. I took the paper of the door... and I stared at it with a slacked jaw for quite sometime before the message finally sinked in...

I was evicted out of my own dojo/home...

Kenshin POV

I was walking down the road that lead to Sanosuke's dojo, limping around a bit. Sanosuke's training was highly difficult, but I think its really helping. I'm feeling a bit stronger, and I've been noticing I'm getting a little faster too. I was just about there when I noticed Sanosuke was sitting against his door, chewing on a piece of wheat. I walked up to him, and I raised an eyebrow as he didn't even look at me. "Sanosuke, why are you sitting here?" I said as he only glanced at me and sighed.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, and threw it at me. As I looked at the paper, I gasped slightly.

_Dear Sagara-san,_

_We are sorry to inform you, that due to several unpaid debts, loans, plus your unpaid rent, and bills, those of which include electric, water, gas, etc., that we are evicting you from you're property. We are sad to say that even the property was unable to make up for you're debt, as such, much of the furniture was taken from you're home, with the exception of your weapon, the Zanbato, as we find no use for it (its not even worth much money on the market). To prevent you from re-entering this property, which now, now formally, belongs to the Hinata District of Japan, we have changed the locks on you're house. Once again, we apologize for any trouble this causes you Sagara-san, but this must be done._

_Our Most Sincere Apologies,_

_The 1st National Hina Bank_

I read and re-read the paper, well, now its an eviction notice, in his hand. He gave Sanosuke an estranged look, while Sanosuke just kept looking forward. "Well Sanosuke-san, what are you going to do now?" I said as he just sighed and spat out the piece of wheat he was chewing on a moment ago. He stood up and perched the giant sword in its place on his back as he just sighed.

"Well kid, I'm not exactly sure." He said as I just stared at him in mild shock. He didn't even have a back up plan if this just happened to fail? "Well might as well get going, I'm sure that I could get a job whoring myself out, or even just doing some fights and have people bet on me..." He said as my jaw slacked at his bold statement, even a few people on the street looked at him with a look that just said 'what the hell did he just say'. "Well see ya later kid." He said as he began walking off.

I stood there and thought of something to do... and I hesitated at first with this option, but when he was about twenty feet away I decided that in order to keep my teacher in Hinata there would be no other way. "Sanosuke-san, I would like to stay at Hinata Sou with Keitaro, myself, and the tenants!" I shouted as he stopped for a moment, looked back, and sighed as he turned back foward.

"Two problems with that kid. First off, Hinata Sou is a girl's dorm, there's no way you'd be lucky enough to get me to stay there." He said as he held up his right hand and straightened one finger. "And secondly..." He said as he straightened his middle finger, now holding up two fingers. "No." He said as my jaw dropped.

"What?" I asked as he sighed again.

"I'm not about to ask for help, I'm not helpless after all. I'm able to handle myself, I don't need your help." He said dryly as he looked back at me. "Besides, you wouldn't want me around anyway..." He said as he sighed. "Well see you, again." He said as he began walking again.

"If you won't stay with us, at least join us for breakfast." I said as he stopped dead in his tracks... I had him. "After all you don't look like you've had a thing to eat all morning!" I shouted as he put a hand to his stomach.

Sano POV

And the ing worst part about it was that he was right. I may have had the groceries, but if you have nothing to cook them on/with, you're pretty much ed. Let me see here... I suppose I could join them for breakfast wouldn't exactly be rude... in fact it would probably be rude for me to not accept his offer for a meal. I mean, how could accepting a meal be as rude as staying with someone without really doing much... well... I guess...

**RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR**

Well my stomach has spoken, I guess... I really have to now.

Kenshin POV

Sanosuke turned back to face me, a hungry, bored, and god damned stuck look on his face. "Alright kid... you got me... I'm too hungry to turn this down..." Sanosuke said as I smiled and nodded.

"Alright then Sanosuke-san, follow me then, I'll take you to you're free meal sir!" I said with enthusiasm while he just sighed. We walked down the streets, myself walking with a bit of a leap in my step while Sanosuke just dragged his feat along. People shot me estranged looks, while they gave Sanosuke weirded out looks, probably due to his immense size, and the immense size of his sword. We eventually arrived to the steps of Hinata Sou, and we began escalating them up to the top.

I looked back to see Sanosuke, still rubbing his stomach and giving me that look of his. "Hey kid, if you're going to keep on looking back here then take a picture, trust me it will last much longer." He said as I chuckled at his crack at humor.

"Very funny Sanosuke-san." I said as he just sighed again. We reached the top of the steps and we looked at Hinata Sou for a few moments before I turned to him. "Welcome back to Hinata Sou Sanosuke-san." I said as he seemed to have a very lost look on his face as he seemed to ignore me. "Sanosuke-san?" I asked as he snapped out of his stupor and looked at me with a stern look, though it was shaken a bit from how I just shocked him.

"Sorry, its just... last time I was here I didn't take much time to look at this place... its huge!" Sanosuke said as I nodded.

"Indeed, well then let's get going in... hopefully you didn't do anything too bad when you came to drop me off the first time..." I said as suddenly he began sweating bullets. "Something wrong?" I asked as he shook his head left and right repeatedly.

"Oh no... absolutely nothing is wrong!" He shouted as I nodded and began walking foward.

Sano POV

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Oh God, now I could handle the first two one on one, but if they attack me at the same time... and if that third one or the other ones get on me... I'm gonna be killed...' I thought as I nervously walked towards the 'Gate of Hell' that I could possibly be entering.

Kenshin POV

I walked forward, my carefree attitude in check as I opened the door and allowed Sanosuke into Hinata Sou first, after all he was the guest. As we entered I closed the door behind me and I went towards the kitchen, I beckoned him to follow me, and he did, but as we reached the kitchen door I told him to stay put for a moment while I ask if there's enough food. "Wait shouldn't you have figured that out before you asked me to come eat here?" Sanosuke asked as I tapped my finger to my chin.

"I guess I wasn't thinking about that." I said as I chuckled and scratched the back of my head sheepishly as he face vaulted to the ground. "This will only take a second Sanosuke-san." I said as I opened the kitchen door and went in to see everyone being seated at the table, except for Shinobu who was still by the stove. "Hello everyone, how is everyone?" I said as everyone looked at me with either a stern look, a smile, or a smirk.

"Hey Kenshin-san/kun." Everyone said as I approached. I approached the table and didn't sit down, when I didn't they all raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey Kenshin-san, something wrong?" Naru said as I nodded.

"Oh no nothing's wrong Naru-san." I said as she nodded and smiled. "But." I said as they all looked at me. "I would like to know if we had enough food to feed a guest I have invited." I said as Shinobu quickly checked in some of the pots.

"Yes we have enough food Kenshin-kun." Shinobu said as I gave a pleading look to everyone.

"Don't worry Kenshin-san, I'll allow a guest to eat with us..." Keitaro said as Motoko, Kitsune, and even Naru, gave him a look of little annoyance. "I-I mean as long as its okay with everyone else!" Keitaro said as I looked at everyone with the 'please for the love of God' look... the dreaded puppy dog eyes.

"Well, of course its fine with me Kenshin-san." Naru said with a smile.

"Hey if Naru's fine with it, I guess I am." Kitsune said as she slurred her words slightly... drinking at this early in the morning Kitsune...

"YAY! A NEW PLAYMATE!" Su shouted as he jumped up and down off the chair.

"I'm okay with it Ke-Kenshin-kun." Shinobu said as she stirred more of the food.

Everyone looked at Motoko with an expecting look. As everyone looked at her she sighed as she rested her head on her hand. "Fine... looks like I'm out voted anyway..." Motoko said as I nodded.

"Thank you everyone." I said as everyone nodded in return. "Alright then, come on in!" I shouted as Sanosuke slowly came in. As soon as Sanosuke came through the door... all hell broke loose.

"WHAT! WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?!" Motoko and Naru shouted as Kitsune raised her eyebrows, Shinobu blushed, Keitaro looked like he was beginning to pray, and Su just jumped over the table, onto Sanosuke's shoulders, and bent down so that her face was looking at his.

"HI! Are you my new playmate, pervert?" Su asked as Sanosuke raised his eyebrows.

"What?" He asked as Naru grabbed Su off Sanosuke's shoulders, and Motoko got her sword partway out of its sheath.

"Look, what are you doing here? Are you here to be a pervert again!?" Naruto shouted as Motoko nodded. "Are you here to be perverted again!?" Naru shouted as I just stayed in the background and watched before I walked up to Sanosuke.

"Sanosuke leave the kitchen for a moment please." I said as I looked at him, and he nodded back at me. He walked out of the room and I faced everyone. "Now everyone, you all just agreed to allow him to join us for dinner." I said in a slightly scolding tone.

"But Kenshin-san, you never told us it was, THAT GUY!" Naru shouted as I sighed and looked at them with my patented serious look, creeping out some of the occupants in the room.

"Look, he just got evicted from his home, had I not offered him this meal he would've left." I said as some of them gasped. "He helped me with my training, and I'm going to try to repay the favor." I said as Motoko slammed her hand on the table a bit.

"But Himura, you've already paid him for the lessons, isn't that enough?" She asked as I shook my head no.

"You should know me by now Aoyama-san, I'm not going to let his patience with my go unpaid..." I said as I leaned in close so I could whisper to them. "I'm going to see if he'll stay here." I said as I raised my hand quickly to silence most of them. "I'm not going to allow someone to be kicked onto the street. As the grounds keeper I have a say in who stays here." I said as I raised my hand again. "I'm offering him a job here... he'll be with the same status as Keitaro and myself." I said as I kept the look on all of them. When they didn't say anything I returned to my smiling look and lifted my head back up and faced the door.

"Alright Sanoske-san come on in!" I shouted as Sanosuke walked back in and looked at me.

"So where do I sit?" He asked as I pointed to the empty chair at the end of the table. He looked at it and nodded as he walked over, and sat down. As Shinobu continued cooking, I noticed Sanosuke was looking very uncomfortable, especially with Naru's and Motoko's gazes fixed upon him. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he felt like he was being interrogated by the Hina District Police. But its a good thing I knew better... right?

Sano POV

I'm sweating bullets while I'm waiting for my breakfast to come... I swear to God that these two girls are way scarier then the Hina District Police... if this was the first time I met them I wouldn't have to worry about it since they wouldn't know how good I could fight them off... but know... they can gang up on me... and I'm not too comfortable with the idea of a sword and a fist coming at me at once... I wish I brought my Zanbato in here with me...

Its alright... take deep breaths Sanosuke... just remember how you handled the interrogation officers... don't say anything unless they talk to you, and answer with either yes or no... just take deep breaths...

Kenshin POV

I watched with a slightly slacked jaw, as I saw Sanosuke sweat... and taking deep breathes. Okay, he's done something... and whatever it was it had earned the wrath of Naru and Motoko. At any rate, Shinobu served the meal, which turned out to be an amazing lunch of rice, fish... and burnt eggs. I smiled at Shinobu as she set the food down. "Shinobu-chan, I see you've been trying some of the American recipes I cook." I said as Shinobu blushed and smiled. I grabbed a bit of eggs, seeing as how every, except Sanosuke, really wasn't taking them. I took a bite, swallowed, and looked at Shinobu who was staring at me expectantly.

"Well Shinobu-chan, its good, but I'm going to have to teach you how to cook it a bit better." I said as Shinobu nodded before sitting down with everyone else. Everyone took a bit of food, well Sanosuke took a ton of food. In fact by the time everyone else had taken some food, Sanoske had gotten quite a bit of everything. When we all got what we were going to eat, we all began eating in...

**SSSSHHHHHWOOOP!**

That sound sounded throughout the kitchen as we all looked to see Sanosuke had not onl eaten everything on the plate, but didn't leave a bit of a crumb on his plate. We all stared as Sanosuke put his chop sticks down and began picking at his teeth with a toothpick. Even Su was staring at him amazed, before wagging her finger at him. "No, no, no, its impolite to eat that fast." Su said as we all looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

Alright, if you eat so fast that even Su considers you rude, then you're eating pretty fast. We all looked as Sanosuke just shrugged and got up. "Well, that's all I'm eating, thanks for the meal, it was delicious." Sanosuke said as he bowed and left the kitchen. I got up quickly and ran towards the front door, as the others got up to follow me, despite not having eaten yet. I ran out, and caught Sanoske who was putting his Zanbato on to his back, which caused Naru and Motoko to sweat drop slightly.

"Sanosuke-san, please consider my offer." Kenshin said as Naru and Motoko puffed up their cheeks slightly.

"Why, I can handle myself, I don't need any sympathy, any help." Sanosuke said as he looked me dead in the eye. "I'm not like my father." He said as I suddenly found out exactly why he wasn't taking my help... then I began considering the choices I had left.

"I would give you a job as a guard! You wouldn't techinically be getting help since it would be your job to stay here!" I shouted as he looked up for a second, taking on a thoughtful look. But he just looked back at me and shook his head no.

"I'm sorry, but no." He said as he began opening up the door. This was desperate, but I'd have to guess that it would be my last option.

"Fine, fight me!" I shouted as he, and just about everyone else in the room looked at me as if I was absolutely insane. "If I win then you stay, if you win then you can do whatever you want!" I shouted as Sanoske took on another thoughtful look.

Sano POV

Hmmm... talk about your win, win situations. If he wins, which won't happen, I get a job, and a place to live, and I suppose it wouldn't be sympathy if he beats me. If I win I get to beat the snot out of this overconfident little loser. Alright then, now to tell this kid that I'm in. I turned around and I looked at the kid with a smirk. "Alright kid, you're on, I'd be more then glad to beat the snot out of you." I said as he nodded and everyone else looked at us like we were mad men. Then he began showing me the way to this... island with a waterfall behind the Dorm?

Kenshin POV

I lead Sanosuke to the back of the dorm, into the same area where Motoko and myself fought. When he first arrived, I could tell that he was very shocked, and very impressed by the size of it. I smiled at him as I watched. "You can still back out of the fight if you wish to." I said in a cheerful tone as he scoufed and shook his head.

"Please kid I'm going to wip you all around this fancy place." He said as he looked at the waterfall. "It is kinda cool though." I heard Sanosuke say as I smiled at him and nodded, while closing my eyes of course.

"Very well then Sanosuke-san." I said as I opened my eyes, which I hoped were giving off the aura of seriousness that they normally did, and judging Sanosuke's widened eyes they did. I then drew my sword and got myself ready. "Shall we get started?" I asked as he smirked.

General POV

Keitaro, and the rest of the tenants of Hinata Sou were sitting on the same island on which they observed Kenshin's and Motoko's fight, however this time Motoko had joined them on the island. Shinobu, who since having seen Sanosuke put the giant Zanbato onto his back, was a little frightened, went up to Motoko, and tugged on her Gi. Motoko looked down to Shinobu, as Shinobu stood there blushing slightly. "Motoko, how are Ke-Kenshin-kun's chances?" Shinobu said as many of the other tenants perked up as well.

"Yeah Motoko, how are his chances?" Naru asked as Keitaro nodded.

"Seriously, if I could bet, who should I bet on?" Kitsune said as she smirked a bit.

"Yeah Motoko-chan! What are Rurouni-kun's chances?!" Su shouted as she jumped onto Motoko's shoulders. Motoko looked out onto the island on which Kenshin and Sanosuke stood, Sanoske just cracking his neck, and stretching out various parts of his body, while Kenshin stood there, sword drawn. Motoko, for only a second, cracked a small smile as she looked at the others with a confident look.

"Kenshin's chances are good." Motoko said as everyone smiled, and only slightly grimaced at the chances of having Sanoske around. "I mean after all, this guy may be strong, but we know that from my fight that Kenshin will run circles around him." Motoko said as Shinobu raised her hand. "Yes Shinobu?" Motoko asked as Shinobu pointed towards Sanosuke.

"What about that giant sword?" Shinobu asked as Motoko smirked.

"That Shinobu, is a Zanbato, or you could call it by its better-known name. The two-in-one sword. Reason why they call it this is because that it could kill a man and his horse in one swing." Motoko said as many of the tenant began sweating. Motoko just laughed slightly before giving them all a smirk. "But don't worry, there's no way that he'll be able to lift the thing. Hell, there hasn't been a person I've known who could." Motoko said as many of the tenants became relaxed... except for Naru and Keitaro. "Naru-san, Urashima, something wrong?" Motoko asked as they both pointed as Sanoske.

Everyone looked... and saw Sanosuke hoisting the Zanbato off of his back, and into his two hands. Everyone stared for a moment before Motoko walked over to Shinobu and covered her eyes. "You... may not want to see this..." Motoko said as she could feel tears building up in Shinobu's eyes as everyone kept on staring.

Kenshin POV

As I stood there and watched as Sanosuke drew out his Zanbato I kept my stern stance, and, hopefully, kept my confident look on my face... however if my body were to represent the turmoil that was in my mind, I'd be pretty pathetic looking. My knees would be quivering, I'd be shaking in my sandals, I'd be sweating bullets, and my heart would be exploding out of my chest. I swear, I knew that the Zanbato was coming... BUT COME ON! He looks terrifying with that thing! He must of noticed my slightly nervous state, because he smirked as I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"You can still back out if you wish to..." Sanosuke said, saying the words I had only a few minutes ago. I gritted my teeth slightly as I shook my head no and as he sighed. "Alright then, you're move!" He said as he tensed his body up... apparently I would be the first one to make the first move in this fight...

"Very well then Sanosuke-san!" I shouted as I ran for him. I honestly don't know what possessed me to go take his bait, and rush in... maybe it was because I was trying to keep someone who helped me off the streets... maybe I was excited about taking on a opponent, who's caliber was higher then my own. Whatever the reason, I made a very fatal flaw, when going against a bigger, stronger, and most likely better opponent... you never take the first move.

But this thought didn't cross my mind as I ran towards Sanosuke, my sword at my side. As he tensed up even more I jumped up into the air, suprising Sanosuke midly as I brought my sword above my head. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryutsuisen (Supersonic Sword Technique: Dragon Hammer Flash)!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I prepared to bring my sword down. However, Sanosuke gather his wits and swung at me, several feet before I could get at him. I landed on top of his Zanbato, and jumped off of it as he slung me off of it.

He rushed for me as I landed, bringing his Zanbato up, I, however, rolled out of the way, in time enough to narrowly miss being sliced in half by Sanoske's Zanbato. Sanosuke looked at me with a look of seriousness as he slung his sword over his shoulder. "You sure you wanna fight with real swords?" He asked as I looked straight at him.

"I would imagine that if I took you on with a wooden one, my chances of victory would not even exist... so no, I'll take my chances." I said as he smirked as he brought his Zanbato back in front of him.

"Very well then!" He shouted as he ran for me, preparing another vertical smash. I rolled out of the way of it, once again, and was prepared to put a cut into his left arm. However, he quickly brought his Zanbato up to his defense, blocking my sword with the flat side of his. He began swing it towards me, but I jumped back to avoid the blow. I was in trouble, if he can move the Zanbato that fast... can't think like that, I have to win this fight! I decided to go for a slightly different tactic.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Doryusen (Supersonic Sword Technique: Earth Dragon Flash)!" I shouted as I rammed my sword into the ground, and flung rocks towards Sanosuke. Sanosuke, however, quickly brought the flat side of his sword back up to his defense to block the stones. I took this chance and quickly got behind him... but just as quickly as I got there... he turned around and got another vertical slash ready. He brought it down, and I was too close to dodge it... so I tried blocking it... bad idea... REALLY bad idea.

Depsite my own sword being brought up to defend, his own sword kept on driving down. However I did give myself enough time to dodge out of the way of his strike. Right then and there, I knew that I needed to get away from him for a little while... so I jumped as high into the air as I possibly could, hoping that he wouldn't be able to reach. Now... I should've guessed that this was going to happen next, after all, so far nothing in this battle has gone right, why should this?

Sanosuke jumped up into the air and, albeit slowly, was approaching me, swing his Zanbato in circles. I decided that now would be a good time to try out how effective Motoko's few hours of training could be... I slammed my fists together, and they began glowing with Ki. "Shinmeiryu: Gurenken (God's Cry School: Red Lotus Fist)!" I shouted as I began spinning. Though spinning, I noticed Sanosuke was still smirking... time to pull this one out. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryukansen - Tsumuji )Supersonic Sword Technique: Dragon Wrap Flash - Spiral)!" I shouted as my spinning came to full speed.

His spinning came to full speed as well, and when he was close enough... we clashed our swords together. Both of our attacks were being powered by centrifugal force, but mine was being powered by Ki, which I thought would give me an edge. It did... but only slightly. A few seconds after the clash, both of our swords were flung several yards away. And as soon as they were gone... Sanosuke punched me in the gut. As I lost my breath I noticed that it felt like I was just struck by a sledge hammer.

He punched me two more times, before throwing me to the ground. I flipped in mid-air to recover, and landed on my feet, and began running for my sword. He landed a few seconds afterwards, and followed. I got to my sword first, and ran for him and tried to hit him with a horizontal slash... and to have him dodge it, hit me in the ribs with a Round-house kick, and then while I was flying ran for his sword, grab it, and then perch it onto his shoudler.

I shakily stood up, and looked at Sanosuke... who wasn't even short of breath, while I was quivering slightly from the blows he had given me... and in that next moment I knew my next move... it was so simple... but it would take a lot of luck to work. I straightened up, took a deep breathe, and placed my sword back in the sheath. Sanoske dropped his guard thinking that I was giving up... then I sprang my trap. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Battojutsu: Hiryusen (Supersonic Sword Technique: Art of Drawing the Blade: Flying Dragon Flash)!" I shouted as I spun around once and, holding onto only the sheath, punched it towards Sanoske, causing the blade to fly out, spin a bit, and then point straight towards Sanosuke.

Sanosuke gasped and turned to dodge the blade, and as he watched the blade fly away, is when I made my move. I slammed my fists together, once again incasing them in Ki. "Shinmeiryu: Gurenken!" I shouted as I ran towards him, and just as he looked towards me, I slammed one of my fists into his face, causing him to drop the Zanbato. I sent more punches flying into him, one after the other, hitting him in the chest, the chest, and shoulders.

However, he regained himself, and punched me in the chest, sending me back a few feet. But I regained myself, and ran for him with, intent on sending a right punch into his. However he had the same idea, and our punches collided... and I could feel my arm almost break under the strain of it. A second later he grabbed my wrist, flung me over him, and into the air. I recovered and landed on my feet... right beside my sword. I pulled it out of the ground, and I began charging him. He got his Zanbato, and he brought it so that he could send a horizontal slash at me.

And he did... but he hit nothing. I jumped onto his blade at the last minute, and when the tip of it ended up behind him, and when he was momentarily confused is when I struck. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu: Ryusosen (Supersonic Sword Techinque: Dragon Nest Flash)!" I shouted as he looked behind him, just in time to see my first slash, which caused him to once again drop his Zanbato. I continued to swing my sword, in non-vital spot of course, at Sanosuke... and I charged up one final one, and as I did I watched him pulled back for one more punch.

The sound of crunching bone, and cutting resounded the the air as I ended up behind Sanosuke. We both stood there for a second... before... I fell...

I'll reveal the winner of the fight in the chapter!!! TAKE THAT BI-ATCHES!!!! R&R!!!!


	9. Sanosukes, Sus, and Loop Machines, Oh My

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Wow, I didn't think I'd start writing this new chapter so soon, maybe I'm just trying to make up for the long period of time it took me to update (sorry about that by the way, I had way too much going on at once). At any rate, by the looks of the reviewers who DID review, this story is going along nicely. I have to say that I was very nervous about the last chapter, introducing a new Rurouni Kenshin character so soon made me think of the possibility of the beginning of the end of my story (doing such things has done worse to other stories...).

However by the looks of it my fears were unfounded, and my latest chapter was a success. Anyway, this will be the conclusion of the last chapter, and the beginning of the Love Hina: Vol. 2 chapters (I forgot to mention, WE'RE ALREADY DONE WITH VOL. 1!!!). Also... I'm guessing you all are very excited for the, inevitable, introduction of Yahiko! Well, he's going to take a while, but I'll give you guy's a good idea of when he's gonna show up. Its going to be in late VOL. 3 of Love Hina.

Also... by a unainimous vote...

KITSUNE AND SANOSUKE WILL BE PAIRED UP!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

Well not that I've gotten that out of my system, and before I do get to this chapter, I must first respond to the people who DID review;

paintball-gamer- Well that was a possibility, but then I thought of how complicated that would make the later chapters, so I just decided that it would be easier, and better, for Sano to be apart of the Hinata Sou Dorm! And on the pairing ideas... there are people you seem to be forgetting, but I will remind you in due time.

Infinite Freedom- Too true, too true. You'll see, and you're right, even in the debt department they are alike.

Raenef the 6th- You'll see who wins...

charles ho- Hey, all of my Rurouni characters past are going to be similar to their cannon forms, but I'll be modernizing them for taste, and for the best results. You know, I was thinking that I made Sanosuke highly OOC while I was writing this, but so far there hasn't been a single person who told me so, so my recollection of the cannon must be pretty accurate. Also, for Rurouni Kenshin I was favoring a SanoxMegumi pairing, but when I made this crossover I thought 'Hey, who else looks like a fox that I know of... hehehehe'. And thank you for bringing that to my attention. And Sanoske will be getting into some fights... but with who I will not say. And no, there will be no female Rurouni Kenshin character, as there is already too much estrogen due to the Love Hina characters.

And now... onto the 9th chapter, and the beginning of Volume 2 of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper!!!!!!!!

Chapter 9: Sanosukes, Sus, and Loop Machines, OH MY!!!

Kenshin POV

Manager's/Grounds Keeper's Room

A Few Hours Later

As I began to come to, I found my head spinning slightly. Even with my eyes closed, I felt dizzy and sick... perhaps I took one too many punches from Sanosuke. I opened my eyes, only to be greeted with a spinning room, and also a lit room, hurting my eyes with its light. I tried to move my right arm to block out this light... but it wouldn't move. I slowly looked over to my right arm, to see it in a small cast, with all of the tenants' names on it, and Keitaro's as well.

'I must've broken it when I met Sanosuke-san's fist...' I thought as I turned my head back up to the ceiling. As far as I could tell, only my right arm and my torso were hurting like hell. The reason for saying as far as I could tell, was because of the smell of Sake in the air, meaning that they tried to numb some of the parts of my body. I began sitting up, wincing as each section of my spine bent so that I could sit up. I rubbed my head, to find that some of it was in bandages.

'The fight was far more intense then I thought...' I thought as I got a better look at myself. There was only one type of injury all over my body... but this injury was covering almost all of my torso, I could feel one on my face, and if I guessed right, my arm was probably covered in one... bruises... and lots of them. At this point they were mostly purple... meaning that the fight must've been a few hours ago. A thought suddenly popped into my head... 'Who won?' I thought as I placed my left arm on the floor and began pushing off of it.

As I shakily tried to get to my feet, falling onto my aching rear more then once, the door slid open, revealing Keitaro with some Sake bottles and a bowl with a towel in it. Keitaro practically dropped the items as he saw me and rushed out of the room. "Everyone! He's awake!" I heard Keitaro shout as then what sounded like a stampede began coming towards my room. In the next instant, every single one of the tenants of Hinata Sou stormed into my room, and got all around me.

"Kenshin-san are you alright!?" Naru asked as I tried to tell her.

"Yeah kid, you feeling okay!?" Kitsune asked as I also tried to answer her.

"Oh no I think he lost his voice!" Shinobu said who, after seeing me not put a word in edge-wise, thought I had gone mute.

"OH COOL! THAT MAKES HIM LIKE THOSE KIDS ON THE AFTER SCHOOL SPECIALS ABOUT THE HANDI-CAPPED!" Su shouted as everyone in the room looked at her and sweat dropped.

"Su-chan, not cool." Keitaro said as Su rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry." Su said as I cleared my throat and everyone looked at me.

"How is Sanosuke-san?" I asked as everyone in the room nearly face-vaulted.

"You mean you can honestly look at yourself, see how badly injured you are, and ask 'how is the guy who beat the crap out of you'!?" Naru shouted as she watched her language, seeing as how Shinobu and Su were there.

"Well... yes, that I am. I mean did I win or did he win?" I asked as everyone froze for a second before I heard someone clear there throat in the entrance to the room. I looked to see, what the most calming sight I had seen.. and yet also one I didn't want to see. I saw Sanosuke, standing in the frame of the sliding door. He had bandages all around him, covering up the cuts I had given him. His knuckles were slightly bruised, very slightly, and he had only a couple bruises and the spot of his body that one could see.

I lowered my head as I saw him. "So... I suppose that means he won correct?" I asked as Sanosuke kept on staring at me before sighing.

"To be completely honest kid... no..." Sanosuke said as he walked over and sat down beside me. I was shocked, did I win... did I really win!?

"Does that mean I beat you?" I asked as he shook his head no. "Wait... then if you didn't win, and I didn't... then who did!?" I asked as he sighed.

"Well it happened like this kid..." Sanosuke said as he looked up at the ceiling, gaining a far away look in his eyes.

Flashback

Sano Pov

_I stood there, gasping for breath as I let my fist drop to my side. I had gotten a solid hit on Kenshin as we sent our final blows into each other... however he did the same to me. I put my hand onto the cut that was leaking blood on my side. I had to say, for all the doubt I had about that kid, he did amazingly... but now it was over. I turned around... and was shocked at what I saw. Kenshin, he was still standing, his sword still firm in his grip._

_Now I'm not sure what caused what happened next. Maybe the kid's punches were a little stronger then I thought, or maybe because of the lack of blood to my head thanks to it leaving through my cuts... but I fell onto the ground. As I fell I saw Kenshin falling as well... it was a double knock-out.. a tie. As I hit the ground, and went through my last few seconds of consciousness, I saw Kenshin laying there... and there was one thought going through my head._

_'He pushed himself that much... to give me a... a home... heh... some kid...' I thought as I passed out due to blood loss._

End Flashback

I told Kenshin all of that... save for the last part... I didn't want anyone to think that I was some girly kinda guy...

Kenshin POV

I was excited, and at the same time disappointed in the result of the fight. I was excited because that meant that Sanosuke wouldn't be leaving quite yet... but it disappointed me because know we would have to do another challenge, and I don't think I would be up for it... I sighed as I looked straight at him. "So what are we going to do now?" I asked as he sighed and tapped his chin.

"I dunno." He said as he continued to tap his chin. "We said that if you won I would stay, and if I won I could do whatever the heck I wanted, so obviously we have to do another challenge." He said as I groaned. All of a sudden he stuck his fist out in front of me and looked at me with a bored expression. "Rock, paper, scissors." He said as everyone in the room face-vaulted. I would have, had I not already been on the floor to begin with.

"You're... serious aren't you?" I asked as he nodded and I smirked as I stook out my left hand, my right arm not being good for much of anything.

"Ready?" We both said at once. "Rock... paper... scissors..." We both chanted as we locked eyes. "SHOOT!" We both shouted as we shot out our hands...

"HA!" I shouted as I brought my fist up. "ROCK BEATS SCISSORS!" I shouted as Sanosuke smirked at me as he withdrew his hand.

"Yep, looks like you won kid." He said as I smirked at him and extended my left hand.

"Welcome to Hinata Sou, Dorm security guard Sanosuke Sagara." I said, more calmly then before. Sanosuke smirked as he took my hand and shook it. I looked up at the tenants, most of them with a slight grimace on their face... but overall I think they were happy. "So Shinobu, did I miss lunch?" I asked as Shinobu shook her head no.

"No Kenshin-kun, in fact I was just starting it." Shinobu said as she ran out of my room and down the stairs.

"Alright then, let's go join her." I said as everyone nodded and help me onto my aching feet.

"You go on ahead, I'll join you soon." Sanosuke said as I nodded and left the room, leaving Sanosuke who began walkng onto the balcony.

Sano POV

I looked out at the noon-time Hinata city from my new home... I smiled as I thought those last two words... this place was my new home.. and I was going to make the best of it now. "I have to admit." I said as I stretched my limbs. "Living here is going to be nice, compared to my last place..." I said out loud as I looked over the city.

"Oh is it?" I heard a voice say behind me. I turned around to see Kitsune standing there smirking at me. "So... you threw that game of rock, papper, scissors didn't you?" She asked as I chuckled.

"How did you guess?" I asked as she scoffed.

"Please, I'm the ultimate gambler, I can always tell when someone throws something." She said as she walked into the room. I raised an eyebrow as I walked towards her.

"Hey, since we're dormies and all now, can I check something?" I asked as she tapped her chin.

"Don't see why not stud." She said as she smirked and I raised an eyebrow. I then smirked as I walked up to her, and poked each of her boobs. She blushed and froze while I began laughing.

"Sorry... just checking to see if they were real hon!" I said as I continued laughing, oh how I do love irony... however I was so busy laughing I didn't notice her shaking her fists.

"WHY YOU..." She said as she drew her right fist up and back, not that I paid it any mind, I was too busy laughing. "PERVERT!" She shouted as she sent her fist screaming into the top of my head, hurdling me into the floor... and actually causing me to go through it to the next floor, which believe it or not led to the dinning room area. I crashed onto the table just as everyone reached the bottom floor, causing it to collapse, and causing a few of the girls to scream a bit.

I looked up to see Kitsune steaming as she stomped out of the room above us. Keitaro ran towards me and looked over me. "Are you okay?" He said as I looked at him as if he was the most idiotic person on Earth.

"Nooo..." I gasped out. "I can't feel my back..." I said as I passed out right on the table.

A Week and a Half Later

Kenshin Pov

Its about December the 10th, and I have to say things have certanly gotten a little more crazy at Hinata Sou with Sanosuke around. The event the day he officially became our body guard, though it hasn't happened again, has reflected badly on Sanosuke's reputation, mostly because Naru and Motoko heard Kitsune say 'pervert' which she almost never does, according to them. So, due to that, Sanosuke is bunking in our room, which is getting pretty full now, especially with his Zanbato taking up a lot of space in its corner (its too heavy for us too hang).

One thing interesting I've learned, and everyone else has learned, is that while Sanosuke is pretty scarry when you look at his size, he's actually kinda nice. Like even with his back practically thrown out by hitting the table, he still, somehow, managed to help us fix the table and the hole in the ceiling. But... that's not to say that he doesn't have his faults either. He's a BIG eater, in fact now I have to go grocery shopping every three days now! Also, he has a bit of an ego... but don't we all have a bit of an ego?

Another thing about Sanosuke is that he is actually pretty strict about his own training regiment. You see after he came to Hinata Sou, to stay, he decided to stop training me saying that 'he didn't need any tough competition' or something like that. Though I was suprised to find that he doesn't train with his Zanbato, he just practices his fighting style, and does extremely rigorous (Hiko would even agree) training excersizes. In fact, one morning I saw him hanging by one hand off the ledge of the waterfall behind Hinata Sou, while the other one had about five fourty-five pound weights on a bar in it.

I swear, things just haven't been normal since Sanoske showed up... but then again, were things ever normal? No, I don't think they ever were, even before Sanosuke showed up things were crazy. But I'm spending too much time focusing on the past couple days. Now then, today Keitaro, Naru, Sanosuke, and myself walking down the halls of Hinata Sou. Naru and Keitaro are going over a quick lesson, while Sanoske and myself stayed back a bit.

"So do they do this often?" Sanosuke asked as I looked at him and shrugged.

"Sort of, they just study a lot. Tokyo U examinations and such, that it is." I said as he kinda sighed.

"Tokyo U, I still can't believe it." He said as I looked at him with an estranged look.

"What do you mean?" I asked as Sanosuke shrugged.

"I dunno... I just got this bad feeling, and trust me, if I feel 'em, then it is bad." Sanosuke said as I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He sighed as he pointed at those two. "Keitaro, no matter how stupid he currently is, appears to be pretty bright, he just has to be taught the right way, but in the short time he's been given... I'm skeptical." He said as he pointed towards Naru. "Now Naru, she's incredibely book smart... however there are going to be questions that just won't challenge your book smarts, some are going to require real world smarts... she's just a little young is all I'm sayin'." He whispered as we continued walking and I tapped my chin.

"How did you come to this conclusion?" I asked as he chuckled under his breath.

"Kid, I've been around just about every block there is, and trust me I know a lot more then people think I do." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of straw and put the end of it between his teeth. I looked at Naru and Keitaro and sighed as I looked back to Sanosuke.

"We're just going to have to hope you're wrong Sanosuke-san." I said as he nodded. We were so entralled by our conversation that we failed to notice that we had caught up with Naru and Keitaro.. and that there was a certain blonde-haired, dark-skinned girl running towards us from the roof.

"HEY RONIN-KUN, RUROUNI-KUN, ZANBATO-KUN!!!" We heard he shout as she jumped up, swung on the railing for extra speed, and then catapulted herself at us, striking Keitaro and myself in the face with her feet, and hitting Sanosuke in his face with her fist. We all hit the wall, and moaned as Su landed on her feet and gave us a quick salut. "So how do you like my salut?" She asked as we all got up... Sanosuke got slightly pissed.

"What the hell was that for!?" He shouted as Naru got the midly shocked look that, by all accounts, should have been used up by Su's kick. "I mean granted I have been less then perfect but what's up with the fu..." He shouted till we jumped up and put our hands over his mouth before he could shatter Su's innocence.

"Easy Sanosuke-san, we all get kicked in the face, Motoko gets the worse of it... calm down." I whispered into his ear as he took a deep breath and calmed down. I let go of his mouth and he looked at Su with his normal calm look.

"Indian chicks are nuts..." He said as he picked the straw up off the floor and put it back in his mouth.

"I ain't no Indian!" She shouted as Keitaro raised an eyebrow.

"Then what are you?" Keitaro asked as she put her finger in front of her mouth.

"Its a secret." She said as Sanosuke sighed and Naru walked up to Su.

"Su, I know that's how you greet people but... do you think you could take it down a notch for Sanosuke-san, since he's new and all." She said as she leaned in to whisper, I didn't hear much but I did hear. "Besides, he looks a little scary." She said as I smirked and Su looked at her a bit confused.

"Why? Does it matter?" She said as she smiled at all three of us. "Besides I really like those three, they're really nice." Su said as I smiled at her, Sanosuke just shrugged, and Keitaro, after hearing about ALL THREE, remained slightly calm, but still had a small blush...

'Weird.' I thought as Motoko came down the hall.

"Urashima-san, Himura-san... Sagara." Motoko said as she came towards in, adding in a but of distaste with Sanosuke's name.

"Hello Motoko-san." I said as Keitaro waved and Sanosuke just stared at her. Motoko walked over to Su who jumped up on her shoulders and began playing with her hair.

"Motoko, why don't you like Zanbato-kun? He's really nice when you get to know him!" Su said as she began pulling on her hair.

"Su!? Stop pulling on my hair!" She shouted as we just kind of stared at her.

"Is it me, or is se always hanging around her... literally." Sanosuke said as Keitaro and myself nodded and Naru just shrugged.

"Yep, that's right." Naru said as she smriked at us. "I guess you could say that she likes Motoko-chan too." Naru said as Motoko suddenly turned around and looked at us.

"Oh yes, you three." She said as Keitaro, Sanosuke, and myself looked at her. "Because of a kendo training camp, I won't be here for the next few days." Motoko said as Su dropped off her shoulders, and looked at her with a blank expression on her face.

"Oh... really?" Keitaro asked as Motoko nodded.

"Please remember to lock up the place while I am away." Motoko said as we all began walking to the front. As she tied her shoes, everyone came to the front to greet her.

"An overnight, co-op camp, I thought only upper school kids had those?" Kitsune asked as Motoko looked at her with a semi dead-pan look.

"I am an upper school kid..." Motoko said as she picked up her boken, and her bag and walked out.

"Good luck!" We all shouted as she just waved goodbye. Su, unlike us, did not shout, but just waved, the same empty look on her face as before. I looked back to see that Kitsune was dragging Shinobu away from the four of us (Su, Keitaro, Sanosuke, and myself) and leaving us there. Keitaro began stretching.. and then I heard and felt something.

"What the?!" Is what I heard, what I felt was something pulling my hair. I looked behind me to see that Su had perched herself on Sanosuke's shoulders, and she was currently tugging on mine and Keitaro's hair. She smiled at us as we looked at her with a nervous grin. I heard Kitsune giggling from the door of Hinata Sou... as we all walked back in... Su still with her grips on us. As we got to the second floor Shinobu stayed on Sanosuke's shoulders... before leaping over and doing a one-handed hand stand on my head, and then leaped over to Keitaro, tied her legs around his shoulders, and hung over backwards.

She then grabbed Sanosuke's arm, and began hanging on it. That was the straw that broke the camels back for Sanosuke. "Su." Sanosuke said as we all stopped and looked at him as he lifted his arm so that he could look Su straight in the eye.

"Yes?" She said as she looked him in the eyes as well.

"Not that I hate having you hanging all over me but..." He said as he picked her up with his other hand. "WILL YOU GET OFF ME!!!!" He shouted as he began shaking his arm, with Su on it, around widly. He stopped for a moment, only to see she was still on there. He then put his foot on her head, and tried to push her off. And when that didn't work, he tried biting her off. Su, in the meantime, was having the time of her life. Sanosuke gasped for a second before staring at her. "She's worse then a dog..." He said as she just smiled at him as she got off.

"Oh please let me stay! I promise I won't bother any of you all!" She shouted as we knew that she WOULD bother us.

"I gotta go train!" Sanosuke shouted as he ran off.

"And I gotta go study!" Keitaro shouted as he ran off.

"And I gotta, damn!" I shouted as they ran off... and I felt something on my back, tugging on my hair.

"Let's play Rurouni-kun!" She shouted as I sighed and smiled.

"So what do you want to play Su-chan?" I asked as she tapped her chin.

"LET'S PLAY PIGGY-BACK RIDE!" She shouted as I chuckled and started running off.

General POV

Naru stood standing there, watching the spot we all stood in. "Jeez... weird..." She said as she started walking to her room.

Kenshin POV

Two Hours Later

I took small steps down the hallway as Su sat on my shoulders shouting and laughing and just having the time of her life. I stopped in place and my legs shook a bit as I collapsed on the floor... now I see why Shinobu and Kitsune ran... Su can run you down, and run you down hard... "THAT WAS FUN! Let's keep going!!!" She shouted as I sighed and lifted her off my back, and onto the floor. "What's wrong Rurouni-kun?" She asked as I looked at her with a small smile.

"I'm sorry Su... I'm just so tired..." I said as I looked at her, she looked like she was about to cry. But... I thought of an idea. "Hey, why don't... you play with... Sanosuke-san." I said as she looked at me with a confused look. "Zanbato-kun?" I said as she smiled and stood up.

"Alright then!" She said as she ran off. "See you later Rurouni-kun!" She shouted as I sighed and began crawling. I made it... to the stairs... fate is so cruel...

Sanoske POV

I was in the woods, I took a large log to a stump in the middle of the forest. I stood there... and slowly started to settle myself... then I lashed out, and I punched the log on the stump with my right fist, shattering it into several pieces. I looked around to see the pieces... "Shit!" I shouted and I slammed my fist into the stump, breaking it into pieces as well. I sat down and looked at the pieces as I tapped my chin. "Dammit... the strength of the punch is too far spread out still... I want it to break the thing in half... not shatter it... how am I going to fix that?" I asked myself as I sat there.

I was so busy thinking I didn't hear the sound of something running towards me... until it was far too late. Su jumped onto my back, and threw her arms around my neck and began swinging on me a little bit. "Su, what are you doing Su!?" I shouted as she kept on hanging.

"Giddy-up mutant horse!!!" She shouted as she kicked me in the hips.

"OUCH! Su you can't do that!" I shouted as she just kept on hanging on.

"GIDDY-UP MUTANT HORSE!!!" She shouted as she kicked me in the hips once again.

"OUCH SU GET OFF OF MY BACK!!!" I shouted as I tried to reach her. "I... can't... reach her... she's on... my freaking back!!!" I shouted as she kept on laughing her ass off.

"GIDDY-UP MUTANT HORSE!!!!! YEEE-HAW!!!" She shouted as she kicked me in the hips again... NOW I'M PISSED OFF!!!

"ALRIGHT YOU WANT ME TO GIDDY-UP!? I'LL GIDDY-UP!!!!" I shouted as I sprinted through out the entire area. I jumped into tress, jumped all around, and even began swinging around the branches of the trees. I got on top of the tallest tree in the area... and dived off it! SHE STILL HUNG ON! And then I grabbed a branch, swung around it several times, and let go of it, swinging me into the forest even deeper... SHE STILL HANGED ON! AND WHAT'S MORE SHE WAS LAUGHING SO HARD I THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO BUST A FREAKIN' GUT!!!

"WEEEEE!!! THIS IS FUN MUTANT HORSE!!!" She shouted as she kicked me in the hips again.

"OUCH!! MAKE IT STOP!!!" I shouted as I continued running, jumping, and doing whatever possible to get her off of me.

Two Hours Later

"Su... get off me..." I gasped out as Su kept on laughing and giggling.

"Giddy-up mutant horse!" She shouted as she kicked me in my, now numb, hips. I couldn't take it anymore... I collapsed onto the ground and I gasped for breath as Su looked over me with a small frown. "What's the matter Zanbato-kun... don't you want to play with me anymore?" She asked as she began tearing up. I looked up at her, and was about to tell her off... until I say something that made me freeze in place... I saw my sister...

_"Sano-kun!"_

_"Let's play Sano-kun!" _

_"What's wrong with mommy Sano-kun?"_

_"DON'T LEAVE PLEASE SANO-KUN!"_

_"I love you Sano-kun..."_

All of these early memories of my sister flashed through my eyes as I looked at Su's tearing face... and I wasn't angry at her... damn kid... playing off my memories like this. I smiled at her as I shakily stood up and looked down at her. I ruffled her hair as she began smiling too. "Not right now Su, I'm exhausted..." I said as I tapped my chin. "But hey, how about you go play with Keitaro-san?" I said as she tilted her head to the side. "... Ronin-kun?" I said as she smiled.

"Alright Zanbato-kun!" She shouted as she ran off back to Hinata Sou. I stood there as I watched her run away.

"... Finally..." I muttered as I fell foward. I laid there on the ground for a while before I stood back up and I walked towards Hinata Sou. I was going to get a good few hours of sleep, or I swear that I was going to go crazy. I made it to the stairs... only to find Kenshin trying to crawl up them. "Hey Kenshin." I said as I picked him up and slung him over my shoulder.

"Oh, hi Sanoske-san." He said in a deadpan tone. "How was your time with Su?" He asked as I rubbed my hip.

"Don't ask... hey Kenshin, can I ask you something..." I said as she shrugged, which meant, I guess, go ahead. "How can it be that a thirteen year old, who, as far as we know, has not had ANY kind of formal training, can have more stamina, and can hurt as worse then we can!?" I asked as he just shrugged again.

"How am I supposed to know..." He said as I just sighed.

"I don't know... maybe because... YOU'VE BEEN HEAR FOR WEEKS NOW!" I shouted as he just stayed there. "Kenshin?" I said as I heard him snore. "Great... he's asleep..." I said as I continued carrying him up the nearly endless flights of stairs. We reached our room, I threw Kenshin onto his futon, and then collapsed onto mine... we were there for a good five seconds before we heard a sound that, while not terrifying, did cause me to moan lightly.

Kenshin POV

"I can't study like this!" I heard Keitaro shout as I forced myself awake, only to see Su jumping around the entire room. She was doing so many things at once it was hard to keep up with her... she was on top of the bookcase looking over our room, looking through the bookcase looking for pornos, looking at Keitaro's book of problems, throwing a crate around, eventually throwing it into the closet door, destroying it, and then she began apologizing for the destruction...

"Out of the frying pan..." I said as Sanosuke sighed.

"And into the oven..." He said as he reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a piece of straw. Then Su did something none of us expected...

"Hey guys..." She said as we all looked at her... and our eyes went to the size of a soup ball. "What's this?" She said as she opened up... a porno, with a bare nacked lady, in all her glory... on the front. "'She softly said, "I love you" "Aahh! Don't... my heart is beating so fast!" And he puts his hand on my breast.'" Su said as she read from the porno magazine. Despite having been exhausted three minutes ago, we all decided that this was too much.

"Su come back here!" I shouted as I sprang up.

"Yeah, get back here you little squirt!" Sanosuke shouted as he jumped up and over.

"Kids can't read that stuff!" Keitaro shouted as the chase began. Su giggled and giggled as she ran around the room, jumping on top of the bookcase, myself following her due to me being the only one close to her size. Then she would crawl under the floor, Sanosuke would tear off pieces of the wood work so that he could try to get to her. Eventually the board above us popped open, and Narusegawa's head lowered from the ceiling and looked at us with an estranged look.

"What are you all doing?" She said as we all froze as we were about to leap on Su. Sanosuke grabbed the porno just in time to keep Naru from seeing it.

"Nothing." We all said as once as Su just smiled. Naru sighed as her head went back up... but then she came down shortly afterwards with some of her books.

"Looks like you guys can't really handle Su that well... so I suppose I'll help." She said as we sighed and thanked her. After a minute of getting set up, Naru and Keitaro got to studying, while Sanosuke and I, now energized by our adrenaline rush, were now practically wide awake. Su was making tea for us, and was giving each of us a cup. We sat quietly for about five minutes... before Su decided to start stirring up trouble again.

"Naru..." Su said as Naru turned around to look at Su. "Look a hidden porno magazine! They're all perverts!" Su shouted as she opened up a porno right in front of Naru, causing her to blush, Keitaro to nearly go through a spasm attack, Sanosuke just stared at it with a slight blush, and I was going through a minor panic attack (with Naru's attitude and all), though it wasn't as bad as Keitaro's. Then Keitaro did something none of us expected...

"ITS SANOSUKE'S!" Keitaro shouted as everyone looked at Sanoske who blushed and looked at Keitaro with an indignant look.

"Why you!" Sanosuke said as he pointed at me. "Well for all we know it could be Kenshin's!" Sanosuke said as everyone looked at me... then something else happened...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" We all began bursting out laughing as we sat there. Naru was laughing so hard she had to take off her glasses to wipe her eyes. Sanosuke was on the floor holding his ribs as he laughed. Keitaro was rolling around on the floor. I was on the ground slamming my fist into it as I laughed. And Su was just giggling her head off, saying something about a funny reaction. We all stopped laughing and we all looked at Sanosuke.

"Now Sanosuke-san, that's rediculous, I wouldn't dare do such a thing... not after... well..." I said as I began fading off.

Flashback

_I was sitting at home, just recently recovering from a training session with Hiko... and Hiko was reading this weird magazine with naked girls on it... well a friend, a woman friend of his, walked in, saw the magazines, and started kicking his ass... after he was done playing a game of Operation on the wrong end of the stick, he looked at me with a pained expressions and said something I'll never forget. "Never... start... reading... porn..." He said as he fainted, and I was left with the woman cracking her knuckles... while looking at me..._

End Flashback

I faded back, while the others looked at me with wide eyes. "Needless to say she kicked my ass cause she thought I was reading it too, said something about needing to learn a lesson before it was too late for me..." I said as everyone just nodded while staring at me with a 'and how did you grow up to be THIS normal' look.

"Ooookay... let's get back to studying..." Keitaro said as Naru nodded and everyone went back to normal... for a while.. then Su got bored... again... only this time I was grateful that she walked over to Keitaro.

"Ahhh. Getting all embarrassed because someone saw your porno, you're so cute Keitaro!" She said as Naru twitched a bit as Sanosuke raised an eyebrow.

"Here comes the fireworks..." I heard him mutter as I nodded.

"Keitaro-san, could you get Su-chan off of you so we could study?" Naru said, with a little bit of irritation in her voice.

"I'm trying... but she won't let go!" Keitaro shouted as Su looked at him.

"Oh hey Keitaro." Su said as she put a hand to Keitaro's ear. "Is it true that you'be never had a girlfriend?" Su said as Keitaro visibley flinched.

"Wha-wha-what?" Keitaro stammered as Su started getting even closer to him.

"Too, bad... you're hair smells nice... like bananas..." She said as Keitaro kept on blushing, and Naru just kept on twitching. "You're face is smooth... like a girl's!" She said as she rubbed on Keitaro's cheek with her own. Naru continuously twitching and Keitaro was just going nuts. "Oh yeah Keitaro..." She said as she kissed him on the cheek. "Will you be my boyfriend?" She asked as Naru, Keitaro, and myself just stared for a while, and Sanosuke just started clapping.

"Bravo, bravo..." He muttered as the scene continued to unfold.

"KEITARO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Naru shouted as Keitaro just backed up.

"I'M SORRY, I CAN'T CONTROL HER!" Keitaro shouted as Su backed off of him.

"I KNOW THAT, BUT YOU COULD STOP BLUSHING! SHE'S JUST A KID!!!!" She shouted as Su started giggling.

"WELL LOOK WHO'S TALKIN'!" Keitaro shouted we both Sanoske and myself began laughing along with Su.

"Darn looks like Naru-chan got here first! Oh well!" Su shouted as Naru and Keitaro just stared at her, their entire faces turning red as they began splathering out jibberish. Now at this point Sanoske and myself were rolling on the ground again, and Su was just having a ball. "And Rurouni-kun and Zanbato-kun are so fun, LET'S DO IT THIS WAY THEN!!!" She shouted as she grouped hugged Keitaro, Naru, Sanosuke, and myself and brought us together in one giant hug, crushing us together.

"The five of us can be a couple!" She said as she tightened the hug slightly. "I like all of you!" She said as Keitaro's and Naru's faces were getting very close and Sanosuke and I were trying to get out of Su's hold before the fireworks went off on us. But, thankfully, Naru and Keitaro found the strength to get us all out of Su's grip, and for the next few seconds they were speaking gibberish... and then Su went crazy...

An Hour Later

As Sanosuke and I once again went for trying to capture Su, after failing for the 29th time, Keitaro and Naru sat at their table, whispering at each other to see if they could come up with some kind of plan of action. After a while Naru just sighed and looked at all of us. "I think I'll go to bed now..." Naru sighed as we heard the sound of something being buttoned. We all looked to see Su getting dressed up in night clothes. "Su... what are you doing..." Naru said as we all stared at her for several moments.

"I'm sleeping here with Rurouni-kun, Zanbato-kun, and Ronin-kun!" Su shouted as we all stared at her with wide eyes.

And for the first time in a while we all saw Naru's EXTREMELY violent side resurface... scaring many of us... "NOOO!!!!" She shouted as Su just looked at her with a pleading look.

"I can't sleep without someone beside me... besides Motoko was always with me..." Su said as she gave Naru the puppy dog eyes... five minutes later we were all in the room with our night clothes on, including Naru.

"What are you doing in her Naru-san?" Keitaro asked as Naru sighed.

"I'm just being safe is all..." She said as suddenly a pillow was thrown into her face. We all looked to see Su, throwing pillows at all of us...

"PILLOW FIGHT!" Su shouted as she started flinging pillows at all of us.

"Alright, now this is my kind of sleepover!" Sanosuke said as he picked up about five pillows and began throwing them at all of us. I caught the two that were meant for me, and fired them at Naru and Keitaro, who looked at me with shocked looks.

"Kenshin-san! Why did you do that?!" They both shouted as I picked up more pillows.

"All's fair in love and pillowfights!" I shouted as I threw pillows at Su and Sanosuke, and Naru and Keitaro joined into the pillow fight. About a half hour later Keitaro was gasping for breath and Naru was barely standing as Sanosuke, Su, and myself continued fighting.

"How can they go for so long?" Keitaro asked as Naru just shrugged. In the next instant all of the fighting stopped and Sanoske and I even began taking some deep breathes.

"Wow, you're all pretty good!" She shouted as we all just stared at her. She began giggling as she rubbed the back of her head. "Being with you all reminds me of being with my family back home! Today is my happiest day since coming to Japan!" She shouted as she smiled and we all stared at her for a moment... wondering what exactly she meant by that.

"So... what are we going to do about who is going to sleep where tonight?" Keitaro said as Sanoske just sighed.

"I'll sleep next to Su tonight..." He sighed out as Naru glared at him. "Oh come on! Who do you trust more? A teenager who's probably just entering puberty, a nine-teen year old who hasn't had a girlfriend his entire life, or a twenty-five year old who actually has his act together?" He asked as we all thought about it for a second before Naru sighed.

"Fine... but if you try anything funny..." Naru said as she grabbed a pillow, and punched it, causing all of the feathers to blow out of the pillow. Sanosuke mearly nodded before going over to his futon and laying down, all of us following him, except we were going to our own futons. We turned off the lights and, suprisingly, we all fell alseep without Su going ballistic on us.

Sanoske POV

About an Hour Later

I laid on the futon, not quite asleep, but not fully awake. I don't know why I wasn't falling asleep, but maybe it had to do with the little Indian girl who was currently crushing my spine. I finally fell asleep... only to be awaken by the most painful squeeze thus far, it even made me grunt out loud... which proved to be my partial undoing. "I saw that punk..." I heard a voice say as I looked over and saw Naru standing over me cracking her knuckles... with flames shooting up from behind her... as I was about to take up my defense... we heard something that very well saved my life.

"Onii-san..." We heard Su mutter in her sleep as we looked down at her. "Onii-san..." We heard her mutter again as I looked at her with a slightly softened look. I rubbed her hair as I looked at her.

"Poor kid..." I said as Naru nodded. "Having to live on her own at such a young age." I said as I looked at Naru, and thought of the other tenants of Hinata Sou. "Heh. Looks like there are a lot of girls like that around here..." I said as I kept on petting her.

"You seem to be handling her really well..." Naru said as I nodded... then Su squeezed me again. I gritted my teeth as that fit fell as well.

"Yeah, believe it or not I have a little sister who used to be like her..." I said as I stopped petting her head.

"Used to be?" Naru asked as I nodded.

"Yeah... before I left her she was the brightest ray of sunshine I had ever seen. She was practically just as energetic as Su..." I said as I continued petting her.

"Before you left?" Naru asked as I nodded.

"You may not have guessed it... hehe... but my family wasn't exactly the most functional one..." I said as Naru chuckled a bit and nodded. "My mother was pregnant with my little brother when it happened. I was sent of to foster care because... well we simply couldn't support three children... so I was sent off..." I said as I gazed off... which ended as soon as Su squeezed me again. When she was done I sighed and continued. "The day I left... she just seemed different..." I said as I smirked. "So to answer you, the reason I can handle her well is because I went through the this same stuff already..." I said as suddenly it felt like I was being crushed by a ton of weight.

"Onii-san... I can't eat so many... bananas." Su muttered as I gritted my teeth. She let go again, but I kept my teeth together.

"Are you okay!? Naru said as she looked at me... and I glared at her...

"Nooo..." I gasped out. "Its been a long time... since a little girl... broke my back..." I gasped out as the room started spinning... I looked at Naru and gasped... "Has your hair always been orange?" I asked as I passed out.

General POV

Naru looked over Sanosuke with widened eyes and smirked. "Heh, he's a pretty lovable lug... when you get over the entire 'freakin' giant' thing." She said as she went back to bed. "Maybe Kenshin-san was right, he's a pretty okay guy." She said as she fell asleep once again.

Kenshin POV

I began waking up in the morning, feeling refreshed and revitalized. I sat up and stretched myself out with a big smile on my face. I yawned as I looked around, Naru was sleeping soundly, Keitaro was fast asleep while spread out over his futon. I looked at Sanosuke... and shear and utter fear entered my soul. "SANOSUKE-SAN!!" I shouted as Naru and Keitaro shot up... only to be met with the same horrifying sight. Sanosuke... was awake... but he had purple marks stretching out from under Su's arms. His eyes were even rolled into the back of his head... and foam was coming out of his mouth.

"SANOSUKE-SAN!!!" We all shouted as we ran to him, checking his pulse.

"He's alive... but we have to help him!" Naru shouted as we all nodded... and I ran to get the bandages, and Keitaro and Naru tried to get Su off of Sanosuke... only to fail over and over again.

An Hour Later

We all sat in the living room, his torso covered in bandages... and Su was even more energetic then before. "We sure had fun playing and sleeping together last night!" Su shouted as we all just sighed, and groaned. "Can I sleep at your room tonight Naru-chan?" Su asked as Naru grimaced and Sanosuke began reaching for the door.

"Motoko... please come back... I'm begging you... I can't take this anymore..." Sanosuke said as suddenly the door busted open and a storm blew in, and Motoko came in soaked and wet.

"We tried waiting out the storm... but it didn't look like it was going to stop so we canceled the trip..." Motoko said as Sanosuke jumped up.

"THANK YOU!!!" He shouted as he suddenly passed out, and Su began poking him and Motoko stared at him with a dead-pan look.

"Did I miss something?" Motoko asked as Naru, Keitaro, and I face vaulted into the ground.

OMAKE (Okay this isn't actually an Omake, you see I wanted to put this scene in, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought 'This deserves to be an Omake'. So here's an actual OUT TAKE!!!)

Kenshin POV

We were all sitting around Sanosuke, Sanosuke drinking some of the Sake I had made for him, while everyone was just keeping an eye on him. He took a drink and suddenly a thought popped into my head. "Hey Sanosuke-san, have you ever gone out with a girl?" I asked as we all looked at him. He looked at all of us and sighed as he put the glass of Sake to the side.

"Well... I have one story to tell... but for it to be good I'd need a looping machine." Sanosuke said as we stared at him for a moment before Su dashed out of the room, and ran back in with this stereo-looking device and placed it in front of Sanosuke and smiled. "... Well now then... I guess I can tell you the story now..." Sanosuke said as he cleared his throat and looked at us all in the eye. "Now then, please don't kill me in the end..." He said as we all sweat dropped.

"Well it all started off in a bar... you see I met this girl... and we both were drinking heavily... lots of Sake..." Sanosuke said as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "(Sigh) So she was drunk and she invited me to her apartment... and I was drunk and I accepted her invitation..." He said as the older guys and myself were sweating. "And eventually... it started going..." He said as he hit the record button on the stereo. "Whow whow, whakawhow whakawhow whakawhow." He said as he hit the record button again... but then hit the one of the play buttons right after it so that afterwards it would keep on playing.

Whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow, whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow

It kept on going as Sanosuke bobbed his head back and forth. "Then it started getting even more interesting... it started going..." Sanoske said as he went for the record button again. "Kuh kuh, kuhkekeke kekeke kekeke." He said as he hit the record button, and hit another play button.

Whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow, whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow

Kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke...

The loop kept on playing as Sanosuke kept on head bobbing. "Then it started getting really heavy..." He said as he hit the record button again. "Huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh." He panted out as he hit the record button again, and hit play right after that.

Whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow, whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow

Kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke...

Huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh... huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh...

The loop kept on playing as now everyone was freakin' blushing. But Sanosuke kept on going with the head bobbing. "But then... I was like... " He said as he hit the record button again. "Oh yeah." He said in a slightly deeper voice, which right after recording hit he hit play.

Whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow, whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow

Kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke...

Huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh... huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh...

...Oh yeah... oh yeah!

But then he looked up and sighed... "But then she started crying... and I couldn't go on while she was crying..." He said as he suddenly stopped the music loop, and the girls sighed a sigh of relief. "So I went into her kitchen and got some ice cream... but it was the best damn ice cream I'd ever had!" He said as everyone blankly stared at him. "It was like... sex cream!" He said as the girls stared at him. "And I was like..." He said as he hit play and began rubbing his belly.

Whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow, whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow

Kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke...

Huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh... huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh...

...Oh yeah... oh yeah!

Slowly but surely... we all ran for the living room... away from Sanosuke.

Sano POV

"Hey, where are you all going?" I said as I watched them all run. I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders as I looked at the bottle of Sake. I took another deep drink of the good old alchohol and looked at it. "Wow, Kenshin's pretty good at making Sake... this is great Sake!" I said as I took another drink. "This isn't Sake... this is... Sexe!" I shouted as I hit the play button and continued drinking.

Whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow, whow whow, whakawhowwhow whakawhow whakawhow

Kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke... kuh kuh, kuh kekeke kekeke...

Huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh... huh huh, huh huh, huh huh huh, huh...

...Oh yeah... oh yeah!

I HOPE YOU ALL LIKED THIS CHAPTER, R&R!


	10. Christmas In Japan?

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Man, I'm just writing a lot now aren't I? But hey, I'm sure my quick updates are making you all very happy... and to be honest they're making me very happy as well... its giving me the chance to type up some ideas that just refuse to stop buzzing around in my head... ouch. At any rate, some of you didn't understand the last Omake. Well let me break it down in steps...

Loop Machine- A machine you record a noise (or in Sano's case a series of noises) onto a machine, and then the machine plays the noise, and repeats them when they're done (hence the name loop machine).

The sounds- Ever watch those 80's flicks with the cheesy romantic disco music in the background...

So I hope that clears up the Omake for everyone. But, at any rate, its about time for me to get going with the reviews...;

Infinite Freedom- Give... it... some... time...

paintball-gamer- Yes, the best laid plans if mice and men... And as for the Su thing, yeah, I just never saw the similarity between Keitaro and Su's brother (other then the glasses thing) and I figured Sano could fill in since he didn't have a sister. And I hope that you can understand the Omake now.

charles-ho- Glad you love it, its just that I had such great plans for that chapter... and it seems they've paid off. But... as for Yahiko... it's a secret on how he's going to be coming... but it will be similar to how he comes to the group in the cannon.

Well it's good to be getting on with the next chapter of LOVE HINA: KENSHIN THE KEEPER!!!!

Chapter 10: Christmas in Japan?

About a Month Later

Kenshin POV

Well now, is it getting close to Christmas already? I can't wait! Christmas has always been a good holiday for me, in the orphanage, with Hiko... and even the few with my real parents... but I'm getting ahead of myself, I'd best get re-caught up with the past couple weeks. After Motoko came back, Su went back to riding her most of the time, much to the chagrin of Motoko, but to the joy of Naru, Keitaro, and myself... however it seems that Sanosuke has been taking some time with Su as well.

I don't know why, but I think it has to do with whatever Naru and Kitsune were talking about the day Motoko came back. They were both smiling at him, and the whispers kept on going... don't know why no one has told me about what they're talking about yet... oh well. And then the story Sanosuke told us... I'm not going to be able to eat ice cream for a long time without having to get a little drunk first. Now then, in the weeks coming up to this point... hmm... let me see here...

I have been training with Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, I may be a master according to Hiko... but I could use a little more practice...perfect it more... even develop some new techniques maybe... but I'm rambling now. I've also been helping Naru and Keitaro study some... though now I'm not helping too much. Still, I do some of the cooking, cleaning, and other such activities (including doing repairs after one of us guys gets hit through a wall or floor or ceiling).

Sanosuke, as far as I could tell, has been doing some more serious training with his fighting techniques. Also, I usually see him in his spare time sharpening his Zanbato, helping me with the repairs. But nowadays he won't help me with my training... telling me that he doesn't need the competition. Another one of his things to do is hang out with Su... whenever she isn't hanging on Motoko. But most of the time... he just sits around, chewing on a piece of straw.

Now then, onto the present. Keitaro, Naru, and I were climbing up the stairs. I was coming up because I had gone shopping for Christmas decorations; they were just coming back from a late night cram school session. We met at the steps, and they were telling me about the day so far... and then we got to the top of the steps... and saw one of the biggest trees I have ever seen. "Woah..." I said as I walked towards the tree.

"Oh hey, you three are back... and you bought the new decorations" Kitsune said as she took the decorations from my hand and began handing them out.

"You all are back." Shinobu said as she sat on a ladder, putting up decorations.

"YAY! You're back!" Su shouted as she jumped foward at me... I stared at the mustache she had on her face that seemed to have had appeared over the course of the time I was gone... I noticed Motoko had one on her face too.

"Su... Motoko... you got something on your..." I said as I rubbed my upper lip. Motoko sweatdropped and Su just giggled.

"I KNOW!" Su shouted as she tugged at the mustache. "I glued them onto mine, and Motoko-chan's face!" Su shouted as I sweatdropped and I looked at Motoko who was pulling at it.

"It... won't... come... off..." She said, tugging at it with each word. I looked around for Sanosuke... and saw him lounging at the other side of the courtyard, his trademark piece of straw in his mouth. I looked at everyone with a raised eyebrow.

"Why isn't Sanosuke-san helping you all?" I asked as Kitsune crossed her arms.

"Well, Mr. Humbug doesn't feel like helping us decorate." Kitsune said as Su jumped foward.

"YEAH! Zanbato-kun said that it was too much trouble for him." Su shouted as Sanosuke came over with the straw still in his mouth.

"Now I have a good reason for that..." Sanoske said as he looked at the giant tree. "First off... we're in Japan right?" He asked as everyone nodded, Naru even added in a 'duh'. "Well... then why are we celebrating Christmas?" He asked as we all stared at him. "I mean... shouldn't we be celebrating something related to Buddha instead?" He asked as we all sweatdropped. "Or you all Christian?" He asked as we all looked at each other.

"Well... we just celebrate Christmas 'cause it's a fun holiday..." Naru said as everyone else nodded along with her.

Sanosuke sighed as he looked at each of us. "Yeah... well..." He said as he sighed. "Never mind." He said as he took the old piece of straw out of his mouth, and put in a new piece. "I'll be back... I gotta go punch something." He said as he began walking off to the forest. We all looked at him with a little bit of confusion in our eyes, and we all looked at each other.

"Should we go after him?" Shinobu said as I shook my head no.

"We should let him handle himself... he is an adult after all..." I said as I looked at all of them with a small smile. "Let's get to decorating then shall we?" I said as they all nodded... except for Keitaro.

"But Kenshin-san, I want to tell everyone something..." Keitaro said as I looked at him.

"Let's at least wait for Sanosuke-san to come back..." I said as Keitaro nodded and helped us decorate the tree.

Sano POV

The Woods Behind Hinata Sou

"RRRAAAWWWRRR!" I roared as I hit the side of the tree with a hook, causing most of its wood to bust out. I then began spinning, hitting the tree with one kick, causing it to crack at the place I had hit it, and then kept on spinning, and hit it with my other foot, knocking it over. As I looked at the fallen tree I gasped for breath, trying to bring myself back to some semblance of control... which wasn't easy... especially with all the thoughts going through my head.

Christmas was never really all that great of a holiday to me... not ever did I have one of the Christmas days in which the people are singing and dancing... people eating fruit cake together... loved ones coming together to celebrate one and other... well if that's the measure of Christmas then I had some good ones with my sister... my parents... they were too poor for much of anything... and when they sent me away it only made it worse.

My foster parents... were pretty distant when it came to me... 'Those god damned people... never did much of anything for me!' I thought as I punched a tree, shattering it and causing it to fall over. And after I went back home... there was no semblance of family left there. In fact... there was only one time of my life I could ever remember having a good Christmas, with someone beside my sister... it was with Sozo... we all had a Christmas that I'll never forget... but... it was on Christmas that the sting that took Sozo's life also happened...

During my time as a hitman... a lot of my hits happened on Christmas, figured that they would be caught off guard on a holiday... which they were... but it didn't make it any better for me... especially with multiple hits a day on that day... I struck down another tree as the memories came by... I took one last deep breath and looked around at the fallen trees... I felt better. A lot better... I shouldn't make a habit out of this though, I remember that I made a habit out of beating against the dojo... caused a lot of damage...

Well now that my head was clear... I think I could go back now... so I sighed, put a new piece of straw between my teeth, and began walking back to the group... all I hope is that I didn't make too big of a scene... but I probably did... but its true, WE'RE IN JAPAN... why are we celebrating Christmas... I looked up at the sky and gritted my teeth. "God damn authors... mixing up the freakin' cultures..." I said as I continued walking towards the the front of Hinata Sou.

I walked out to the front and everyone looked at me with an expecting look. They stared at me for several minutes as I walked forwards and I looked at all of them with a weirded out look. "... What are you all looking at?" I asked as they all stared at me.

"What are we looking at? You, ya big lug!" Su shouted as Motoko slapped her hand over her mouth. She tried to speak for several seconds before Motoko seemed to shiver for a moment.

"Su, don't lick my hand!" Motoko shouted as she looked at me. "But seriously, what was with that a few minutes ago, Sagara?" She asked as I shrugged.

"They're just some things about me, little ticks." I said as they all shot a scrutinized look at me... well all of them except for Kenshin, who was still decorating the tree. "Kenshin-san... what are you doing?" I asked as everyone looked at him and he shrugged.

"Like I said before Sanosuke-san, you are a grown man, that you are. I'm sure that whatever is on your mind you can fix, that you can." Kenshin said as I smirked at him.

"Thank you Kenshin-san, that is very helpful of you..." I said as I shot a look at everyone else, causing them to slightly shrink under my gaze. Then, a minute later, Keitaro shot up.

"Oh hey that's right I have news for everyone!" Keitaro shouted as he reached into his coat pocket. "LOOK AT THIS!" He shouted as he pulled out a small sheet of paper with a graph on it. I looked at it for several seconds, before taking it from his hands. "HEY!" He shouted as I looked at the graph. I tapped my chin, and flipped it on its side, and tilted my head to the side... and I couldn't figure out what the hell it was. I looked at Keitaro for a second before giving the useless graph back to him.

"Alright, tell me what it is..." I said as everyone sweat dropped at what I said...

"... You don't know what this is?" Keitaro asked as I blushed.

"Well... I barely had a high school education..." I said as they all looked at me... and they laughed.

"You mean... you're... a high school drop-out?! HAHAHA!" They all laughed, and laughed, and laughed... but only two people weren't laughing, Kenshin, and Kitsune... Probably 'cause she isn't better off than I am. A large vein started throbbing on my forehead as I glared at all the laughers.

"Hahahaha." I mock laughed, as I looked at all of them. "Oh yeah well you're..." I said as I brought my hand up. "Nerdy." I said as I pointed at Naru. "Nerdier." I said as I pointed at Keitaro. "Crazy homicidal maniac." I said as I pointed to Motoko. "Crazy as hell foreign girl." I said as I pointed to Su. "Weirdo blushing girl." I said as I pointed at Shinobu. They all stared at me as I stood there. "Oh yeah, I said it, that's right." I said as I popped my collar. "Later bitches." I said as I dusted my shoulders off and walked back towards Hinata Sou, leaving a hysterical Kitsune and Kenshin, and an angered/embarassed everyone else.

Kenshin POV

Oh my God... that was most likely the funniest thing I had ever seen. Everyone, besides Kitsune and me, were either too embarrassed to go after him or, in Keitaro's and Shinobu's case, to afraid of Sanosuke to do anything to him. My laughter died down after a while, and so did Kitsune's as Sanosuke walked through the front door. The guys looked at us with a raised eyebrow as we coughed. "It was funny..." I said as Kitsune nodded along with me. All the others sighed as Keitaro brought his piece of paper back out into the open.

We all looked at the paper for a moment before Kitsune gasped. "Hey your grades went up... some..." Kitsune said as Keitaro shook his head up and down.

"YEAH! I've been doing very well recently." He said as I nodded.

"Yes, especially with mine and Naru's help, that he did." I said as Naru nodded along with me. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at Keitaro. "Keitaro-san, is there something your working up to or what?" I asked as suddenly Keitaro got this cheezy grin on his face as he readjusted his glasses.

"Well, in fact there is Kenshin-san." He said as he struck a slight pose. "Tomorrow is the practice test for Todai!" He shouted as we all sweatdropped. "I will use that chance to prove myself!" He shouted as Kitsune looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Practice test?" She asked as Keitaro nodded.

"Its a practice test based on the test that you have to pass to get into Tokyo U!" Keitaro shouted as Naru stepped foward.

"Our cram school is famous for this practice test." She said as she raised her finger in a knowing manner. "Basically, if you can do better than the average on this test, you have a great chance of going to Todai." Naru said as Keitaro nodded.

"Exactly!" He said as we all smiled.

"The test scores should be back on the 24th, right? If Keitaro does well, then let's have a party to celebrate!" Kitsune said as everyone nodded.

"Then I can help to bake a cake!" Shinobu shouted as Su jumped foward.

"And I'll make Indian food!" Su shouted as Motoko looked at her with a dead pan look.

"Forget it Su..." Motoko said as everyone looked at looked at me while I began sweating.

"Ummm..." I said as I looked around. "LOOK OVER THERE!" I shouted as I pointed to the right and everyone looked as I ran for the front door as well. "Hahaha.! Fooled ya!" I shouted as I looked back, and when I looked back forward I saw Haruka coming out of the door...

BAM!

I ran into Haruka... and her deadly fan of death. Just before I would have run into Haruka she brought out her fan... and thrusted it into my face, bringing me to an abrupt stop, and forcing to fall over backwards. I laid there, my eyes spinning for a moment or two while Haruka stood over me, smoking a cigarette while shaking her head. I couldn't exactly make out what she was saying... but I could hear 'just like him'. Whatever she said, right after she said it she looked out at the group... who was just staring at me with a sweat drop...

"Anyway, now that's over with..." Haruka said in her usual dead-pan voice as she took a drag on her cigarette and looked at Keitaro. "Keitaro, sorry to bother you, but there's someone on the phone who wants to talk to you." She said as she pointed into Hinata Sou. "The phone is near the door..." She said as Keitaro walked into the dorm and walked over to the phone that was on the ceiling... wait... I think my sense of direction has been effectively thrown off... Why is the room spinning... who am I...?

Sano POV

I heard a bunch of noise downstairs that sounded like someone getting hit, and falling to the floor. I walked down the stairs... only to see Keitaro picking up the phone...and Kenshin laying on the ground in front of the door, the girls stepping over him... and he had a huge, square, red mark on his face. I sighed as I made my way to the door. "So what did he do this time, and who hit him?" I asked as I casually by passed the, for the most part, ticked off women. "Could someone answer my question?" I asked as I picked Kenshin up and threw him over my shoulder.

"That was me... he was about to run into me so I stopped him with my fan." She said, sounding bored as always. I sighed as I picked him up... and was about to head for the steps... before Keitaro's boastful voice filled the room.

"How about this then, tomorrow there's going to be a practice test for the Todai exam..." Keitaro said, adding in a dramatic pause. "If I bomb the test, then I'll go home right away." Keitaro said as everyone else sweat dropped.

"Is this okay?" Kitsune asked as I looked at her and sighed.

"I really don't think so..." I said as I looked at him. "But hey, if he's gotten that much smarter..." I said as they all looked at me with a sweat drop. "He hasn't, has he?" I asked as they all nodded as I sighed. "Then no..." I said as Keitaro hung up the phone, adjusted his glasses... and then started running up the stairs, laughing, with his arms spread out like a birds. I stared at him till he went up the stairs. "Eagle..." I muttered under my breath as everyone else huddled up behind me...

Behind me... wasn't there something behind... OH SHOOT! I looked behind me to see that I had dropped Kenshin while I was caught up with Keitaro... poor guy, if there was a school of hard knocks he would be the valedictorian... But at any rate, I should take him upstairs. I picked him back up, slung him back over my shoulder, and proceeded to carry him up the stairs to our room. I walked up, opened the room... finding Keitaro just studying at his desk. "You know, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." I said as I put the straw in my mouth and laid Kenshin on his futon.

Keitaro smirked at me with a wide smirk. "Oh really, then you must be the most excited person on this planet, Mr. Humbug." Keitaro said as I just shrugged and sat down on my own futon.

"Yeah, I suppose." I said as he just sweat dropped as he went back to work. He studied for a while... but then he started looking back and forth between me and his book for several minutes before I sighed. "Alright kid... what's up?" I asked in a bored tone as he looked at me with a smile.

"I normally only talk to Kenshin-san like this... but..." He said as he looked back at his book. "I can't believe I'm doing so well." He said as I just sweatdropped.

'Not doing as well as you seem to think kid.' I thought as he continued to rant on about his 'good grades'.

"I mean, I'm actually beginning to understand this stuff!" Keitaro said as he continued. "Hehe. But then I guess it's because I have the one of the best helping me out!" Keitaro shouted as I just stared at him. "Somehow, whenever she teaches me, I can remember everything she teaches! If this keeps up I'll have no problem getting into Todai!" He shouted as he wrote something in his book. Then all of a sudden he got this dreamy look on his face, and he got a huge blush on his face. 

"Hey, kid, snap out of it." I said as Keitaro shook his head and blushed.

"Sorry." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked down... and picked up some book. "Oh whoops! I forgot to give her notebook back to her..." He said as he once again rubbed the back of his head. He was about to go through the hole in the roof, until I pulled him down. "What?" He asked as I shook my head.

"Girl's room. Girl in there. She's a very violent girl. Go through front door so you don't get slugged." I said as Keitaro sweat dropped as he nodded and walked out. "Finally." I said as I locked the door to the room. "Some peace and quiet..." I said as I laid down on my futon and was about to go to sleep... until I heard Kenshin begin mumbling in his sleep.

"No Hiko... I don't want more Sake..." He said in his sleep as I sighed.

"God dammit... why me?" I asked the ceiling as I tried to fall asleep again... until...

BAM BAM BAM

Keitaro banged on the door. "Sanosuke-san, I know you locked the door, let me in now!" Keitaro shouted as I just tried to plug my ears.

'If I just don't say anything... he'll go away.' I thought as the banging stopped and I heard Keitaro running away. I sighed as I almost went back to sleep... till Keitaro came down through the roof.

"Damn, forgot about that entrance..." I said as I looked at him, and he looked at me, each of us sending the other an annoyed look.

"Why did you do that?" Keitaro asked in an annoyed tone as I simply shrugged.

"I just like to be alone, is that a crime?" I said as he just sighed and looked at me with an exhausted look.

"You have plenty of alone time!" Keitaro said as I just sighed at him.

"Whatever." I said as Keitaro simply grabbed his head while groaning before promptly returning to his desk to continue studying. Just as I was about to get some sleep, Shinobu opened the door and popped her head in.

"Dinner's ready... and could you wake Ke-Kenshin-kun up so that he could eat?" Shinobu said as I groaned and picked up Kenshin by the collar of his robe and then...

Kenshin POV

**BAM!!!**

I got hit over the top of my head as I was snapped back into reality... man and I was having such a nice dream too. I dreamt that I had just finished killing Enishi, and that all of my friends and Hiko were surrounding me with smiles on their faces while we tried Hiko's new Sake. Anyway, I opened my eyes to see Sanosuke standing above me with a slightly annoyed. I looked around to see Keitaro looking at us both with his jaw gapping open, and Shinobu by the door, tears threatening to leave her eyes.

I slowly stood up, dusted myself off, and looked at all of them with a smile on my face. "Hello everyone, did I miss anything?" I asked as Sanosuke sighed, Keitaro face-vaulted into the wooden flooring, and Shinobu smiled while releasing her tears.

"We-we-well Kenshin-kun, dinner's ready..." She muttered as she left and began walking down stairs. I looked at the others, Keitaro just getting up from his face vault, while Sanosuke just stared at me for a while.

"Well let's go, its dinner time, that it is." I said as Keitaro face-vaulted again, and Sanosuke nodded. As we left, I could hear Keitaro sigh in amazement as he began walking behind us.

"How in God's name does he manage to survive things like that, and still keep such a happy-go-lucky attitude?" I heard Keitaro say as I smiled as we all began walking down the stairs to the kitchen. We all sat down, everyone else had already been seated and were waiting for us to join them. Shinobu had cooked again tonight, and another delicious meal was laid in front of us, I could tell. We all dug in as soon as we were all seated, and just as I thought, the food was delicious.

"Very excellent meal, Shinobu-chan." I said as she simply stuttered something before continuing to eat. Kitsune stared at me for some time before she smirked.

"So Kenshin, how'd you get that bruise man?" She said as I looked at her before she started false blushing and leaning closer. "Did you walk in on Naru at the wrong time?" Kitsune asked as everyone at the table did a quick spit-take before Naruto jumped at Kitsune and began shouting at her about how crazy that was. Kitsune simply shrugged before drinking more Sake. As everyone calmed down Motoko turned to Naru with a curious look on her face.

"Naru-san, why don't you go ahead and fix that hole if things like that have the possibility of happening?" Motoko asked as Naru tapped her chin a little.

"Well, it's because that room used to belong to Grandma Hina." Naru said as suddenly she got a thoughtful look on her face. "Besides, it makes it easier to keep an ear on those three." Naru said as I sighed as I smiled at her.

"You still don't trust us you do Naru?" I asked as Naru smirked.

"Nope!" She said as we all chuckled a bit before we continued eating. Eventually, we all finished, and we all started heading back to our respective rooms. Sanosuke, Kenshin, and I were back in our room, not really doing much of anything. I was simply sharpening my sword, Sanosuke was just sitting around chewing on a piece of straw, and Keitaro was laying on his back, looking back up at the hole in the ceiling that connected our room to Naru's room.

Suddenly Keitaro sighed as he sat up. "But this hole is pretty dangerous..." Keitaro said as he began standing up. "Alright then, let's change the mood and go fix it!" Keitaro said as he pumped his fist out, and I stood up along with him. We both looked at Sanoske, who was still just sitting down chewing on a piece of straw. He looked at us with a 'why the hell should I go?' look, and Keitaro swiftly answered the look with the words any employee hates to hear. "If you don't help us I'll cut your pay." Keitaro said as Sanosuke sighed as he stood up and I gave Keitaro a thumbs up.

"I'll go ahead and see if Naru's up there..." Sanosuke said in a bored tone as he used his immense height to simply walked over to the area under the hole and knocked on it. "Hey, Narusegawa, you there?" He asked as we all listened in on the sound on the other side of the hole. When all he heard was silence he pushe the lid off and climbed up into Naru's room. "Alright guys, she's not in here, I'll help you all up." Sanoske said as suddenly his two huge arms came down from the ceiling and lifted us both up to Naru's room.

We all looked around in the darkness of Naru's room, but we were quickly brought out of the sight seeing by a moan made by Keitaro's mouth. "Oh man... the wood here is almost completely rotten, we can't use it!" Keitaro said as he pointed to the wood around the hole, which was as he said, amazingly rotten. Sanouske just sighed as he cracked his knuckles and walked forward to the hole.

"Alright then, stand back." Sanosuke said as Keitaro and I looked at each other, and then jumped backwards, slightly afraid of what Sanosuke was about to do. Sanosuke cracked his neck, and then slammed, not his knuckles, but the 'fore-knuckles' into the ground, before slammed his knuckles into it. It took a minute, but then a large circular crack formed around the hole, before it fell into our room. We heard the sound of Keitaro's desk being broken, as Keitaro just sighed.

Sanosuke looked at his fist and I could literally grit his teeth as he walked over towards the door, and walked to the ledge. Before we could ask what he was doing he quickly leapt over the ledge. We were both about to panic till we heard him land. "I'm fine, I'm just getting some wood." We heard Sanosuke say as we calmed down and then began waiting for him to return. A few minutes later was saw a hand latch onto the edge of the ledge outside of Naru's room, before we saw Sanosuke pull himself up with one arm, a load of wooden boards in his other arm.

Sanosuke walked into the room and laid the boards down beside the hole, and we looked at him expectantly. He stared at us both, before slapping his forehead and sighing. "Nails and hammers... right." He said as he repeated the same jump, and returned with a hammer in one hand, and a bunch of nails in between his teeth. He walked into the room, dropped the hammer onto the ground, and opened his mouth, releasing the nails onto the floor. "Here you go... now can we finish this..." He said as we both nodded and began getting to work.

We were just about half-way done, Keitaro began chuckling. "What's up Keitaro-san?" I asked as Keitaro just smiled.

"It's just that I've been pretty lucky lately." Keitaro said as Sanoske sighed as he continued to hammer. "I'm doing well in school. My relationship with everyone here, except him..." Keitaro muttered under his breath as Sanosuke just scoffed. "Is going pretty well." Keitaro said as I smiled at him and he began leaning against Naru's bookcase. "Hey, maybe I was meant to be lucky when I turned twenty!" Keitaro said as he began laughing. Then, suddenly, he slipped causing the books on the shelf to fall off as he fell.

"Ouch!" Keitaro shouted as I watched him with widened eyes. "That hurt." He said as he rubbed his rear-end. "It's all because of these darn books here!" Keitaro said as Sanosuke almost began laughing out loud as he shook his head. Suddenly Keitaro got this far out look in his eyes as he looked at one particular book... and it was Naru's diary... Both Keitaro and I began going crazy, both of us trying to force her diary back into the bookshelf... all we accomplished was causing all of the books in the shelf to fall over, bury me, and cause Naru's diary to land on a desk right in front of Keitaro.

"Oh no!" Keitaro screamed as the book began opening to a specific page... then suddenly Keitaro got the same far out look in his eyes as he did moments ago before he picked up the book and began reading it.

"Keitaro-san, NO! DON'T DO IT!!!" I shouted as he kept on reading.

"Fifteen years..." Keitaro muttered as he was about to turn the page... until the sliding opened and Naru stepped through.

"What are you doing?" Naru asked as Keitaro jumped up about ten feet in the air while dropping the book.

"NA-NARU!" Keitaro shouted as he began sputtering out random words, none of them getting out completely.

"How can you do this?" She said as a blush grew on her face, apparently the idea of having her diary read embarassed her... "Reading my diary..." She said with audible sadness in her voice.

"No! Naru, I was here to fix the floor with the other..." Keitaro began until Naru stopped him.

"And I used to think... to think that I could actually believe you were an honest person..." She said as she became visibally angry. "GET OUT OF HERE YOU IDIOT!" She screamed as she shoved Keitaro down the hole that Sanosuke, despite everything that was going on, was still hammering some wood, trying to fix the hole. She then looked at me, with a lesser amount of contempt than she showed Keitaro. She walked over to me, and I looked at her with a worried look.

"I heard you from down the hall..." She muttered as she pulled me out from under the books. She then pushed me towards the hole. "Just get out right now..." She said as I simply nodded and jumped down the hole, hoping that Naru would calm down later.

Sano POV

I pretended to continue hammering the boards as Kenshin jumped down the hole. I was actually paying a lot of attention to what was happening. I could see Naru's shoulders shaking, and I sighed as I picked up the hammer and the boards. I stayed knelt down as I looked at her. "You know..." I said as she stiffened, apparently not even noticing I was in here due to me not speaking. "Something like this happened to me. My sister was in my room, just playing around, when she found my journal." I said as I put the nails in one of my coat pockets.

"She read it... and I was pretty pissed off at her..." I said as I stood up. "Anyway, I'm rambling. I got over it, I forgave my sister." I said as I looked at her while I walked over to the door. "How does this apply to this story? Well... Keitaro came in here, hoping to do some good... don't throw away a good relation..." I said as I sighed. "With an... okay guy... just because of one mistake. If I had done that with my sister, then I would've had a worse childhood then I had already had." I said as I walked out the door, only hearing a little sniff.

About 2 Weeks Later

Kenshin POV

It was two weeks after... well after Keitaro's little mistake... okay his big mistake... alright it was a catastrophe, and so far he and Naru hadn't spoken... but Naru didn't seem too angry... just upset. Fortunately she wasn't really angry at Sanosuke or myself... and I was shocked that she wasn't. Some women are weird... anyway, back to business. The morning after that Keitaro and Naru took the practice exam, they both apparently thought they did very well, and I hope that they did.

Right now, it's kind of late on Christmas Eve. Keitaro's a little late showing up to the party, so the girls just decided to start without him. It began snowing outside, and while they were marveling at it I was mildly worried about Keitaro. He really wouldn't be late unless something bad had happened. I stood against the wall with my hand on my chin, continuously tapping it. Kitsune walked over to me, with a mildly drunken stagger in her step, with a bottle of Sake in her hand.

"Something wrong, kid? You haven't had any of Shinobu's cooking..." She said a little slowly, but I looked at her and sighed.

"I'm just a little worried about Keitaro-san, he woudn't have us wait like this unless something happened to the guy..." I said as Sanosuke finished off a piece of meat Shinobu had cooked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Kenshin's right..." He said as everyone looked at him. "You think he could have possibly gotten into an accident?" He asked as everyone became slightly worried before Kitsune laughed.

"Or he failed the test and doesn't want to show his face." She said as we all stared for a moment, before we all began chuckling.

"Come on, with as hard as Keitaro worked?" I asked as everyone nodded. "And also, even if he did fail, he would have to come back for his stuff! He couldn't just leave it here!" I said as we all nodded and began getting back to the party. Eventually I began eating; forgetting my worry over Keitaro for the moment... but in a matter of moments the food was gone. "Shinobu-chan, do you think you could get more food and some more drink?" I asked as she nodded.

"Su-sure, I'll be right back." She said in a very cheerful tone as she walked off with a skip in her step. We all continued having a bit of fun for a few more minutes... until we heard Shinobu scream. "A THIEF, CATCH HIM!" We heard Shinobu scream as we all jumped up and began running. Sanosuke and I ran through the dorm, until we heard one of Motoko's Shinmeiryuu attacks go off. We immediately ran for the sound, and then we found almost all of the girls standing beside one section of the railing.

"Damn! He got away!" Kitsune said as we got close to them.

"How did he escape?" Sanoske asked as everyone turned towards him.

"He jumped over the railing here, and then disappeared into there!" Su shouted as she pointed to a body of water just under the railing.

"But..." Shinobu began as we all looked at her. "What's there to steal here?" Shinobu asked as we all carefully considered that until Naru walked up.

"That was Keitaro." Naru said in a dead-pan tone as she pulled out a sheet of paper with, what appeared to be, Keitaro's test scores. "Here, he dropped this..." She said in the same tone as she handed Kitsune the scores. We all huddled around the scores... and to say that we were a little amazed was an understatement.

"AHAHAHA! What kind of scores are these!? This is sad!" Kitsune shouted as we all saw Keitaro's score... he scored barely below an even PASSABLE score... he had a zero percent chance of getting into Todai according to this test paper. "So this must be why." She said putting her hands behind her head while everyone else, including myself, sweat dropped. We all heard Sanoske sighed as we turned to him.

"I would be pretty embarassed if I were him too. I mean he made a BET, a BET with his parents that he would pass this thing... and after all those boasts I wouldn't be surprised if he was a little ashamed of himself..." Sanosuke said as he began walking down the hall.

"Hey where are you going Sanosuke-san?" I asked as Sanosuke sighed and turned to us.

"He might have a little bit of an ego... but he's still my boss, and the manager of this dorm." He said as he kept on walking. "I don't know about you all but I'm going to find him." Sanosuke said as Naru said something we all weren't expecting.

"Just leave him alone... it's better for him anyway." She sighed out as we all just stared at her. "The real test is a month away... with grades like these he doesn't stand a chance of passing the test..." She said as she lowered her head. "Even if we were able to convince him to come back... it wouldn't help him... it would be a waste of time..." She said as everyone, including myself, sighed. We were all just about to give up... until a certain individual walked down the hall, smoking a cigarette.

"Are you so sure?" Haruka said as we all looked at her. "The truth is that his grades really did improve after coming here, right?" She said with an uncharacteristic smile on her face. "In fact, Naru, weren't you like Keitaro a couple of years back?" She said as she took the cigarette out of her mouth. "If you two just part like this... wouldn't he feel lonely?" She said as Naru blushed, and we all gained a smile on our faces... knowing that she was right. "Besides, if he freezes to death his ghost might come and haunt us all forever..." She said with a small chuckle as we all chuckled a bit.

Everyone began moving out, and I ran... but Sanosuke stopped to pick something up for some reason.

Sano POV

I knelt down to pick up a small box that was one the ground. The box was white, with red ribbon keeping it from opening it up. On the card it had the words 'Naru, I'm sorry' written on it. I smirked as I stood up and threw the box at Naru, who caught it in her right hand. I smirked at her as she opened the box... and pulled out a brand new watch. "As a wise Sanosuke once said, he's a nice guy, who made a little mistake." I said as she began blushing. "And nice guys never leave an apology unsaid." I said as I turned around and walked away.

"So dumb..." I heard her mutter with a dazed tone in her voice. I walked down to the entrance of Hinata Sou, and quickly put on a slightly heavier jacket. I walked outside, and took a breath of the chilled night air as I began walking.

"Alright then... first step in finding a target you don't know the location of... remember what you know of, or you've been told of, their behavior." I said as I began tapping my chin. "Nerdy guy..." I muttered as I walked through Hinata. "Probably couldn't get too far since he's not so fit..." I said as I continued walking. "And wanted to get into Tokyo Uni..." I said as I stopped mid-word as I realized where Keitaro was. "I should have known." I said as I sighed.

I was slightly thankful that my human tracking abilities had not worn out TOO much since my old days as a hitman. I could find a person, without even being told the location. All I had to know was what they looked like, where they lived, and what they did. I was about a mile from Todai as the building came into view... and it was huge. I had never seen a college campus before, and I was extremely shocked. I kept on walking, staring at the building... when I saw Naru and Keitaro looking at Todai, Keitaro reaching out to it with his right hand.

I smirked as I walked foward. "So, I see you two are getting along again." I said as Keitaro and Naru turned to look at me, with a smile on both of their faces. I then smirked as Keitaro picked himself up off of the ground. "So, did you two kiss and make-up? Or did you go for the full blown make-up and make-out?" I said as Keitaro fell over himself and Naru just blushed as she began sputtering out random nonsense. I shook my head as I turned around. "Well come on, or do you want to freeze to death before you can even try at the real exam?" I asked them both as I began walking and they followed, both of them still carrying blushes on their faces.

Later That Night

It was late at night as I lay on my futon still awake. The party had ended house ago, and everyone was asleep... except for me. Another reason why I don't like Christmas, the nightmares of what happened before... still haunt me on this day. I got up out of the futon and stood up. "Maybe a bottle of Sake will help me sleep..." I whispered as I walked towards the door, opened it, and snuck out. I snuck all the way down the stairs, hoping to not wake up a single person.

I made it to the base of the stairs, and looked into the kitchen, to find the dorm's resident fox girl sitting in a chair, drinking from a bottle of Sake. I sighed as I walked over to the counter. "So, you decided to get some Sake as well?" I asked as she looked up at me and smirked as I opened the refrigerator door.

"Hey there Sano, and yeah I'm still up, just doesn't feel like a good night's rest without Sake." She said as she took another drink of the alcoholic beverage. "Say, what are you doing here?" She asked as I pulled out a bottle of Sake and put it on the counter as I sat down.

"Couldn't sleep at all..." I said as I popped the cork off of the Sake. "Not a lot of pleasant memories associated with this particular holiday..." I said as Kitsune nodded.

"Yeah, Naru told me about that, pretty harsh stuff if you ask me." She said as I smirked.

"Harsh, trust me, compared to what's happening to my sister right now, I'm in Heaven." I said, not being entirely truthful, but being mostly truthful.

"Really?" She asked as she took another drink. "Well I'm not one to pry... well actually yes I am, but this... I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole." She said as I simply smirked and took another drink.

"Yeah, because I wouldn't let you touch it with a fifteen foot pole." I said as we both chuckled. As the chuckling stopped I stuck out the bottle in front of me. "A toast, to two late night Sake drinkers." I said as she shook her head and stuck out her Sake bottle.

"To two late night Sake drinkers." She said as we clinked out Sake bottles together before taking a pretty large drink.

New Year's Day

Kenshin POV

I slowly opened my eyes to the new day... and if I remember correctly, the NEW YEAR! I shot up out of my futon and took a deep breath of fresh air. I looked around to see Keitaro studying. You see, Keitaro had been going through a two day straight study session... and so far he's done it! I looked at the other side of the room, to see Sanosuke sleeping in his futon, just barely snoring along as the sound of Keitaro writing resounded through the room.

"Good morning Keitaro-san." I said as Keitaro looked up to me... and he had crazy looking bags under his eyes. I looked at him until I heard a sigh coming from Sanosuke's direction. He sat up and looked at us both with a dazed look.

"What, am I not good enough to say good morning to?" He asked as I sweat dropped and smiled at him.

"Sorry Sanosuke-san, I thought you were asleep." I said as he nodded and took a look at the prone form of Keitaro.

"He looks worse than I do in the morning..." He said as Keitaro suddenly stood up.

"Well... I'm sorry if I just got through a fourty-eight hour straight studying marathon..." He said as tears streamed out of his face. "It's the most I've concentrated in years..." He said as he sighed. He quickly stood up and began pulling us towards the roof. We stood on the roof, and soaked in the sunlight as Keitaro ran foward to the ledge of the building. "WORK! WORK! So what if my chance of getting into Tokyo U is zero percent!" He said as he pumped out his fist. "I'll get into Tokyo U, Naru. WORK!" Keitaro shouted as I watched him with a smile and Sanosuke just sighed.

"People should not be this active in the morning." Sanosuke said as I nodded and Keitaro turned to face us.

"Okay, now math..." He said as he was about to take a step... before he began falling backwards. "AAAAHHHH!" Keitaro screamed as he fell backwards. Sanosuke and I ran forward to catch Keitaro, I leapt off the roof to catch Keitaro by the leg, and Sanosuke grabbed my leg. Sanosuke pulled us up rather easily and we were back on the roof. He sighed as he shook his head at Keitaro.

"Like I said... people should not be this active in the morning." Sanosuke said as he yawned and began walking towards the edge of the roof, leading back to where Keitaro got us on this thing.

"Where are you going, Sanosuke-san?" I asked as Keitaro looked at me with a questioning look.

"I'm getting breakfast; you two have fun breaking your necks up here." Sanosuke said as Keitaro and I looked at each other, before following him back into the interior of Hinata Sou, and down onto the bottom floor. We reached the bottom floor, and we were greeted by the sight of Su, and Kitsune in fancy Kimonos, while Motoko simply wore her old one.

"Hey guys, what are you doing so early in the morning?" Kitsune asked as we all smiled at them.

"Happy New Year." We all said, though Keitaro and I sounded a bit more excited than Sanoske.

"Happy New Year!" The Kitsune and Su shouted, while Motoko simply shrugged.

"Sure, whatever." Motoko said as we took a closer look at their kimono.

"Cool traditional kimono!" Keitaro shouted as Kitsune nodded.

"Yes, Haruka really likes these old things, so we wear them every single year." Kitsune said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"He he... it feels so nice." Su said as she rubbed her face on the fabric of her kimono. She then pulled out this giant dragon/lion thing from behind the couch. "And I have this for the lion dance!" Su shouted as Keitaro sweat dropped.

"That ain't a lion..." Keitaro muttered as Kitsune walked towards the stairs we had just came from.

"Come on Shinobu, don't be embarrassed!" Kitsune shouted as we all looked towards the stairs to see Shinobu in her own kimono.

"Happy New Year..." She muttered as she blushed deep red.

"Happy New Year Shinobu-chan." We all said once again, though Sanosuke didn't use the 'chan' suffix.

"Well Shinobu-chan, you look very nice this morning, that you do." I said as her blush deepened.

"Thank you Kenshin-kun." She said as I bowed quickly. Kitsune then walked up to us with a smirk on her face.

"Hey, you guys wanna go to the shrine?" Kitsune asked as I nodded feverously while the other two just stared.

"Of course I would!" I shouted as I looked at the other two with an expectant look.

"I don't know..." Keitaro said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, at this point I think that more studying would get me into Tokyo U rather than praying would." He said as we all then looked at Sanosuke who simply sighed and shrugged.

"Whatever, it will give me something to do today." He said as I smiled and Kitsune walked up to Keitaro with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Are you sure you don't want to go Keitaro? Naru's going." She said in a cocky tone as Keitaro began blushing.

"Hey it's Naru, Happy New Year!" Su shouted as Keitaro turned to look... only to see Naru dressed in her nerd get up.

"Good morning." She said as Keitaro face-vaulted into the ground.

"IT'S NEW YEARS! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DRESSED LIKE THAT!" Keitaro shouted as Naru blushed slightly before sighing.

"No fun for the examinees. Quick, go say your prayers, and come back to work..." Naru said with a blush still fresh on her face.

We all walked out to the shrine, Sanosuke and I skipping the praying and going straight for what we wanted, fortunes. You see, every New Year, Hiko and I would go out and get our fortunes. Every single year though... the one thing I would want my fortune to say never came... it was always the same fortune. '_The goal you strive for is out of your reach this year_' it would always say. And every year... my goal was always out of my reach.

But this year, I think its going to be different. Anyway, Sanosuke and I finnaly reached the fortune booth, to find that this year Motoko was running it. "Hello Motoko-san, how are you?" I said as she nodded in my direction with a small smile.

"Hello Kenshin-san... and other than having to work here for my New Year I'm fine." She said as we both nodded. "So two fortunes, I presume?." She said as we both nodded once again. "Very well then, but I want you both to remember." She said as her expression became stern. "This fortune telling talisman is highly accurate; you both better hope you draw the lucky ones." She said as we both nodded. We got our and walked off.

I slowly opened mine, hoping to have gotten a good one. I looked it over, it was a fortune with the words '_Fine Luck_' written on the top of the fortune, I slowly began reading my fortune out loud as I looked it over. It had three different fortunes on it, one about my future, one about my life, and one about romance. "Okay then... goals..." I said as I suddenly lowered my head. "The goal you strive for is out of your reach this year..." I said aloud as I saw a... part of the fortune that wasn't there before. "But someone close to you has answers that will help you achieve your goals." I said as I raised an eyebrow.

However, I brushed it off as I looked at the other parts of the fortune. "My future... hmmm." I said as I tilted my head. "You have gained an assortment of new people in your life... but another important one is yet to come..." I said as I continued reading. "Look for the boy, who is the reflection of your past..." I read as I raised an eyebrow. "Someone who is the reflection of my past?" I asked aloud as I continued to the next part of the fortune, the romance part... which was strange in itself.

"You are entering the time in which women will be after you... sounds like the kind of thing Hiko says during my talk..." I muttered as I continued. "Be warned of the choice you will make in the future..." I said as I rolled my eyes slightly. It was a good fortune all in all... though it was strange... it was a good one. Anyway, I was so immersed with my fortune, that I didn't notice someone walking up behind me.

"What does your talisman say Kenshin-kun?" She asked as she peeked over my shoulder. I smiled at her as I quickly showed it to her. She read it, and blushed a little bit at the romance part of the fortune, and then looked at me. "Sounds like a nice talisman." She said as I nodded. Then all of a suddenl we both saw Keitaro run by at break-neck speed, while he was being chased by... a giant dragon/lion thing. We both blinked quickly before I glanced at her.

"Well I'll see you later Shinobu-chan." I said as Shinobu nodded and left, as I quickly pocketed my talisman and began walking around.

Sano POV

I walked around until I found a bench under a cherry blossom tree. I smiled slightly as I sat under it and sighed. "Well... I guess its time..." I said as I opened up my talisman and looked at it. It was a three-part fortune with the sections of goals, future, and romance. Also, there was a set of words on the top of the talisman that he didn't expect to see. '_Good Luck_' it said at the top. Sanosuke had never seen a talisman with 'good luck' on it. He had only seen 'bad luck', 'worse luck', or 'you're screwed' talismans.

Sanoske raised an eyebrow as he slowly began reading the fortunes aloud. "Goals... your hope for a peaceful life is slowly but surely about to coming to pass." He said as he leaned back onto the bench. "The path to it will be paved with happiness and hardships... but in the end you'll find yourself where you wish to be, one day." He read aloud as he whistled. "Now that's good news." He said as he kept on reading. "Future..." Now Sanosuke raised both of his eyebrows at this one.

"Your life has constantly stayed in the shadows of your past... the time to step out of the shadow, and into the light is soon." He read aloud as he smiled. "More good news." Sanosuke said as he smiled. He then blew on the talisman and began rubbing it. "Come on... come on! Big money, big money, no whammy, no whammy!" He said as he read the romance section. "Romance..." He said as he read the cryptic fortune. "The choice between immediate pleasure, and a life filled with it is coming. Be patient with love, and you will be paid back for it." He read as he scoffed.

"Now that's kind of odd..." I said as I pocketed the fortune and began walking. Suddenly I heard a moan, and I looked around for the source. He found that it the moan was coming from a young woman laying face down in the grass. I walked over to her and looked down at her. I knelt down and rolled her over onto her back... only to find that it was Kitsune.

"Hmmm... what's up Sanosuke..." She said, a light blush on her face as I just stared at her. I started helping her up, the alcohol on her breath made it obvious that she was drunk. "Forcing me to the ground… What do you want?" She asked as I raised an eyebrow and she began to blush a deeper color. "What!" She shouted as she began pushing me. "Ahh... you pervert!" She said as she pushed me away from her.

"Kitsune, just how much did you drink!?" I asked as she began giggling.

"Just a bit of wine..." She said as she began giggling. "Around twenty rounds or so..." She said as my eyes widened.

"Jesus, we gotta get you out of here!" I said as I grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Oh, enough about that!" She said as she pushed me back off. "Anyway, when you try to do it with a girl, remember to get her consensus first..." She said as my eyes widened and she actually opened her eyes more slightly as the blush deepened on her face. "Don't worry... if you want to, I really don't mind..." She said as I stummbled backwards a bit. "Oh... let sis teach ya..." She said as she began stripping off her kimono.

At that point I just couldn't take it anymore. I was just about to leap for her... until the fortune fell out... I looked up at the sky and cursed. "Kami... I hate you so much..." I said as I forced the kimono back onto her, and lifted her over my shoulder. I began walking back to Hinata Sou, as she beat on my shoulder.

"Let me goooo..." She said as she kept beating on my shoulder.

"No, you've had too much to drink Kitsune." I said as she stopped.

"You're so mean..." She said as I sighed. As I walked up the stairs, Kenshin quickly joined me, all sorts of prizes hanging around him. I looked at him with a small smirk. "Nice prizes..." I said as he smiled and looked at Kitsune.

"Nice prize yourself." He said as he smirked and I sighed.

"Yeah, all I had to do was buy a fortune and I got one amazingly drunk nineteen year old girl..." I said as we both walked up to Hinata Sou. "Well, Happy New Year Kenshin-san." I said as Kenshin smiled and elbowed me in the rib, not hard, but in a 'buddy' like fashion.

"Happy New Year to you too Sanosuke-san." He said as we walked into Hinata Sou, just as Keitaro, in his normal attire, and Naru in a kimono walk by with a talisman in her hand. It was a good day for everyone...

R&R!!!


	11. Center Exams, Dreams

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Hey there everybody, this is Arganaut with the latest chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper. Man, last chapter was a fun one wasn't it? It wasn't a well reviewed chapter though, surprisingly, I hope to change that this chapter, cause I really would like to get more reviews out of you people. Speaking of reviews, I suppose I should get on with replying to the reviews from the last chapter:

Charles ho- Yeah well, I just took what opportunities I could, and went with them. And as for your suggestions, many of which I have already thought of. I will not reveal anymore of the future of this fic, as I would like to keep some of it secret.

The Bloody Shadow- Well he's not coming 'soon' but yeah he's coming… as far as who he'll be paired up with, I'm not telling.

Hinataresident- And its coming out right now.

Anyway, enough useless typing, its time to get to the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper!!!

Chapter 11: The Center Exams, and Dreams

About Two Weeks Later

Kenshin POV

Well now, it has been about fourteen days since the New Years Celebration. Not too much has happened since then, things have been running smoothly… well as smoothly as things can go at Hinata Sou. Keitaro and Naru have been studying their brains out over the past couple weeks, in fact they're now studying so often now that its almost all they do all day! Probably because the exams are getting so close.

Sanosuke and I have actually been pretty busy, you see in order to give Keitaro more time to study, I volunteered Sanosuke and myself to do his chores before the Exam. Well, more like I kind of got Sanosuke to do it with one of my 'guilt' trips, which he's actually pretty vulnerable to… must have something to do with his sister. Anyway, I'm getting off subject. Like I was saying Sanosuke and I have been busy.

Well, I've been a bit busier than Sanosuke. You see, while he was good at repairing, laundry, and cleaning, he was terrible with cooking. When I say terrible, I mean terrible. The first, and only, night he cooked for us, not even Su could choke his food down. So we were all in agreement, Sanosuke would never cook for us, EVER AGAIN! Anyway, other than the chores, which there weren't that many of, Sanosuke and myself have been enjoying ourselves.

I've been taking more time to walk around Hinata Sou, trying to get a good feel for the place. Also, the fresh air that just seemed to fill this place was nice to take in as well. Sanosuke just seemed content on sitting around parts of the dorm he already knew like the back of his hand. When you really got to know Sanosuke, he's a pretty calm sort of guy. He won't do things unless they're absolutely needed (or if someone tells him to), and he basically has a 'don't fix what's not broken' kind of mentality.

Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, in fact it saves us a little bit of work sometimes, but sometimes the girls get a little annoyed with it. But, other than that, Sanosuke and I don't do too much to get ourselves in trouble… except for the occasional accident. Now then, currently we were all sitting around Naru and Keitaro, both of them answering rapid-fire questions from a test book Shinobu was currently holding.

"University entrance exam test question, "World History" last question. Who was the 4th President of the United States of America?" Shinobu asked, reading a question from the test book.

"Hmmm… James Madison!" Keitaro shouted after a little bit of thought.

"James Madison." Naru stated, after very little thought.

"Correct!" Shinobu said as Naru just shrugged and Keitaro let out a small sigh. Sanosuke sighed as he cracked his neck.

"Well isn't this a turn around? Keitaro here's actually gotten most of them right." Sanosuke said as he patted Keitaro's head. "Hell, maybe you'll even pass the Center Exam." Sanosuke said as we all nodded. Over the past couple days Naru and Keitaro had explained to us the importance of the Center Exams, saying that these are the Exams that tell you if you get to take the real thing… or if you have to be a ronin… again.

Keitaro was sobbing slightly as he looked at his high mark, I patted him on the shoulder while giving a small smile. "Such a high mark, I can't believe it!" Keitaro shouted as most of us sighed. Naru just shook her head when suddenly Keitaro looked up to the ceiling with a far off look on his face. "Oh yeah! I passed the Center Exam last year too! I forgot!" Keitaro said as Sanosuke and myself face vaulted while Kitsune, Motoko, and Naru just looked at him with a surprised look.

"Passing the Center Exams basically means that you meet Tokyo U's standards… right?" Motoko asked as Keitaro blushed lightly before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yeah… but I only passed because the test was multiple choice…" Keitaro said as we all just stared at him.

"You make it sound so easy." Naru muttered as Keitaro sighed as he walked over to the railing of the hallway and rested his arms on it while looking out over the city.

"I also probably only passed because I used all my luck on that test…" Keitaro muttered as Sanosuke waved a hand in front of his face. When he didn't respond Sanosuke looked at us while shaking his head.

"He's having a little bit of a flashback, just give it some time." Sanosuke said as we stared at him as if he had seen this often. But our staring stopped as suddenly Keitaro continued.

"After failing for the second time in a row I was really down on my luck." He said as the look on his face turned to one of utter defeat. "Then my grades started slipping, and they kept on slipping till they got under fifty percent. Then I got kicked out of my home by my own parents… the story of my life…" Keitaro said as we all sweat dropped, truly the thought that was going through my head was the one going through everyone's.

'His life really is a disaster…' I thought as I stared at him. Suddenly Kitsune's lips curved into a smirk as she gave a reassuring look to both Keitaro and Naru.

"But at this rate, getting through the Center won't be a problem for either of you, heck maybe you'll end up going to Tokyo U next year!" Kitsune said as Keitaro and Naru gave her mildly shocked looks. You see, it wasn't often that Kitsune just handed out such reassuring words… so rare in fact that I had never even gotten one.

Suddenly Naru and Keitaro clapped hands and gave each other brilliant smiles. "Good! Let's work together towards our common goal!" Naru shouted as Keitaro shook his head up and down vigorously.

"Yes! Let's get into Tokyo U together!" Keitaro shouted as suddenly Su ran up to them.

"But isn't the number of people getting in Tokyo U limited?" Su asked as we all looked at her with extremely shocked looks on our faces. No matter how rare it was for Kitsune to be reassuring, it was even rarer for Su to ask a pretty intelligent question. I snapped out of my shock first and nodded.

"Actually Su-chan, you're right, the number is limited." I said as Naru and Keitaro began sweating. Sanosuke shrugged a bit as he stepped forward.

"Yeah… and I suppose that means that two people trying to get into the same school are competitors, not collaborators…" Sanosuke said as the grip on Naru's and Keitaro's little hand shake was starting to loosen.

Then Motoko stepped forward with her hand on her chin. "That means that if one passes, chances are the other fails…" Motoko said as suddenly Naru and Keitaro began sweating as they looked at each other with nervous looks before mildly laughing.

"HAHAHA! Well if that's the case of course Naru-san will pass! Top in the nation on the Prep Exam right?" Keitaro said while chuckling light heartedly.

No, no, no, no! You failed twice already! You have to pass the third time!" Naru shouted as they both kept this up for a couple minutes before, finally stopping. It was then that they both sped off to their own rooms, and began studying like crazy, leaving us, the remaining tenants of Hinata Sou, to go about with the rest of the 'normal' day.

The Next Day, Night Before The Exam

Sano POV

Well yesterday was a bit odd… never seen two people who were trying to get into the same school act so friendly with each other… in all honesty I was expecting a rat race… but I guess the laws of the real world don't really apply here at Hinata Sou. Anyway, not really the point. After that little fit yesterday, both of them began studying separately. It's strange to me… but hey, I guess us high school drop outs don't understand the entire 'college bound' thing.

… It's all too confusing… I just don't really get some of the people here. But, anyway, that's not the point. All the tenants of Hinata Sou have planned a little surprise party for Keitaro and Naru. They even dragged me into it by promising me that good food and drink would be there. Even now I'm lying on the ground, waiting for Keitaro to show up so we can start this party… I didn't have lunch because I thought I would be getting tons of food… and I'm hungry.

I heard the door open as I sighed and began standing up. 'Speak of the devil and he will appear.' I thought to myself as Kitsune walked out the door to get Naru and Keitaro into this room so we can get this party started. Kenshin was standing off in the opposite corner, looking as happy and excited as he normally did… how he can manage to do so is just a complete and utter mystery to me. Meanwhile Motoko was standing over beside a drum.

Shinobu was standing beside the table with food on it getting ready for their arrival. I cracked my neck as I waited for them. Kitsune finally walked through the door, and ran over towards the table with the food on it, and sat beside Shinobu. We waited for a moment or two before Keitaro and Naru finally walked in on us. "Hey! Hope you two can pass!" They all shouted (I just said it quickly), as they looked at us with surprised looks.

"Err… what's this?" Keitaro asked point blank as Kenshin walked up to them and began dragging them towards the table.

"This is a party for you two, that it is." Kenshin said as we all nodded. "After all, neither of you two should be studying the night before a test." He said as I tapped my chin.

"Maybe that was my problem in school…" I muttered as everyone looked at me with raised eyebrows as I shrugged. "Whatever let's eat and drink!" I shouted as I stood up and began helping myself to the food and drink that was laid out for us. Everyone gave 'good luck's to Keitaro and Naru… they should just be giving it to Keitaro, he's the one who needs it. We were about five minutes into the party when suddenly Keitaro asked Naru something.

"Hey Naru, when did Napoleon blockade Europe?" Keitaro asked as Naru looked at him with a slightly confused look. "1806? Or, maybe it was 1808..." Keitaro said as Naru looked at him with a slightly confused and shocked look. Then suddenly Naru blushed as she began laughing slightly while rubbing the back of her head.

"Here, let me ask you an unrelated question. Who's Napoleon's wife?" Naru said, as suddenly the less intelligent Tokyo U aspirant looked at her with a confused look. Then suddenly both began running off to the restrooms, saying that they needed to use them. I sighed as I just shook my head.

"Now they just had to go and turn this party into a study party…" I said as I took a drink of Sake. Minutes later, Naru and Keitaro came back, both laughing light heartedly and rubbing the backs of their heads. After that was over… it was only a few seconds later when they got a serious look on their face before Naru punched her fist into the air.

"Pop quiz!" She shouted as everyone looked at her. "The graph of the function yf(x) is concaved downward over the interval A (X (B, A and B are points (A, F(A), B, (F(B)) respectively , the tangent of to yf (x) at any point P (X, F(X)), A(X (B, meets the line XA at Q and line XB at R! If the area bounded by the curve, the tangent at P, the line XA, and the line XB, is minimized! Prove that the X-Coordinate of point P is independent of the function F(X)!" Naru shouted as we all blinked for a second.

'The tangent of A equals B and P is the point of the curvy line and… bah bah bah bah bah bah…..' I thought as my brain slowly turned to mush. That was all too much for my high school drop out mind to handle. I looked over at Kenshin to find him with his mouth agape, and his left eye twitching.

"Oro?" He said as I sweat dropped as I even began twitching. It was too much for us… and by the looks of it, it was too much for Keitaro to answer… in thirty seconds. As the thirty seconds passed, Su jumped forward, and started forcing Keitaro's shirt off. We all stared as Kitsune suddenly began giggling.

"This must be a guessing game, the loser has to strip!" Kitsune shouted as she began giggling as she ran over to Keitaro and Naru.

"Next! Social question!" Kitsune shouted as we all sweat dropped. What's the name of the pop star, Misia's, first album?" Kitsune asked as Keitaro and Naru simply stared at the fox girl, before she and Su pounced on them. They both tore off Naru's and Keitaro's pants, leaving Naru mostly clothed, but Keitaro down to his boxers. Now then, at this point I knew that this was going to be a bit of trouble, so I picked up Kenshin, who still had his jaw agape.

"Oro?" He said again as I sighed, he was in an advanced state of shock… and though one of Naru's punches would probably serve as 'shock therapy', I don't think he'd appreciate it too much. Then, after Su asked Naru who was the actor for Skywalker in Star Wars Episode one… which is some kind of American movie, I don't know, but that's not the point, the point was that she began taking Naru's shirt off, which of course sparked a huge nose bleed from Keitaro.

Naru looked straight at Keitaro, as if trying to find out what to do. I just stood back, and hoped that nothing would happen to the poor guy. I waited before suddenly… she slugged the poor guy. 'Poor guy… I guess Naru still has that little tick…' I thought as I sighed… and then Naru turned to me. 'Uh oh…' I thought as she cracked her knuckles. I quickly threw Kenshin to the side as I began running around.

"Get back here!" Naru shouted as I began running around not really feeling like being sent through the wall… or otherwise. The rest of the party was everyone betting on if Naru would catch me, Kitsune taking bets and then announcing the positions of the 'race' as if she were one of the guys at the horse race track.

"And we got Angry Pervert Crusher following Scared As Hell Zanbato Boy, and its SAHZB in the lead, with APC staying on him like white on rice. And its still SAHZB in the lead and… OH! APC just caught up with him, and its an all out brawl in the living room… the good news is I just made one-hundred and fifty yen on my bet with Shinobu, Motoko, and Su!" Kitsune said as the other tenants handed her their money as I was knocked across the room like a rag doll…

The Next Morning

Kenshin POV

'Oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro.' …Oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro… wait! I know the answer! Of course, it was so simple!

"The answer is!" I began as I shot up off the ground… and looked around to find everyone asleep on the floor. I looked at them all… and found most of them in very strange positions. Keitaro was very, very close to Naru's rear. Shinobu was asleep on a random part of the floor, while Shinobu was crushing Motoko… and Sanosuke's head was through the wall. I looked out to find it to be nice and sunny out… wait… nice and sunny… uh oh.

I quickly ran over to a clock that was situated close to Keitaro. I picked it up, and looked at the time for several seconds… until I completely froze. Keitaro woke up and, after moving away from Naru, looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Hey Kenshin-san, what's up?" He asked as he walked over… and froze as he got a good look at the clock. Naru woke up next, putting her glasses on as she yawned.

"(Yawn) What's up?" She asked as she walked over… and saw the same thing we did, and froze. It was then that she and Keitaro began running for the door, scrambling to get their coats and shoes on. I stared at them as they screamed, waking up Kitsune and Shinobu. Shinobu ran for Keitaro's bag, got it, and handed it to him before he was able to get out the door. We all stared for moments, until Motoko and Su woke up, and began going over the normal routine.

I stared for a while before Sanosuke finally pulled his head out of the hole in the wall. He had a huge bruise on his left cheek that was beginning to turn purple. He looked around before walking up to us, and yawning before cleaning out his ear. "So what did I miss?" He asked as we looked at him, sighed, and then began getting ready for breakfast.

Later That Night

It was later that night when Keitaro and Naru finally returned. "We're back!" Naru shouted as we all went to the entrance of the dorms to check on our two examinees.

"Oh, you're back!" Shinobu said as the door began to open.

"How's the first day of the Exam?" Kitsune shouted as the door opened… to reveal a very, very scary looking sight. Keitaro was absolutely pale, all of the color on him… even in his clothing was absolutely colorless. "I think I know the answer just by looking at you…" Kitsune said as we simply watched as Keitaro collapsed onto the floor… as the color only slowly drained back into his body. He stood back up, and began laughing lightly.

"It's not that bad! Its just I did poorly on English, World History, and Mathematics… but only those three subjects!" Keitaro shouted as we all sighed a slight sigh of relief.

Naru, however, looked at Keitaro with an estranged look. "Weren't those the three subjects for today's exam?" Naru asked as Keitaro sighed and we all face vaulted into the floor.

"Well I was short on time… so I had to use my sixth sense for a lot of the answers…" Keitaro said as we all sweat dropped as we laid on the floor.

"Well Keitaro… I hope you do better tomorrow… or else you'll end up being a Third Year Ronin…." Sanosuke said, putting extra emphasis on the last three words. Keitaro simply laughed while patting Sanosuke on the shoulder.

"Ahhh! Don't worry about it! My brain will kick in tomorrow!" Keitaro said as Sanosuke simple raised an eyebrow at him.

"You've been trying to get it running for the past two years… is now really such a good time to try to force it to run…" Sanosuke said as Keitaro began running.

"It shouldn't be a problem…" Keitaro said as he slipped on a banana peel. "OHHH NOO!" He shouted as he slipped and fell down the stairs. "AAAHHHH! SAVE ME! I'M FALLING DOWN THE STAIRS!!!" And so he did; he fell all the way down the stairs. I watched as poor Keitaro writhed in pain as we walked down the stairs to help him out.

Later the Next Night

Later the next night, Keitaro and Naru came home… and Keitaro was absolutely pale… once again. Apparently he wasn't quite confident in his answers… once again. We all walked up to the second floor, next to Keitaro's room. He sighed as he looked at us with a slight smile. "Wel-well later… I'm going to compute my score…hahahahaha…" Keitaro said as he walked in, and closed the door behind him as we all sweat dropped.

"Is he going to be okay?" Kitsune asked as she looked at Naru. "What are the scores he's getting?" She asked as she leaned towards Naru, a mild blush of embarrassment on her face. "And what is this exam? I don't get a thing about it…" Kitsune said as Naru sighed.

"Then why do you pretend that you do get it?" Naru asked as Kitsune laughed nervously and she sighed. Before she could explain Su suddenly jumped in.

"Wait Naru let me explain!" Su shouted as suddenly the background disappeared, and a new one dropped from the sky… causing me and Sanosuke to sweat drop and look at each other.

"Another one of the broken laws of physics?" He asked as I sighed and nodded. Su jumped up as she pointed to the backdrop… which was basically a giant web of events.

"First the examinees take the test!" Su shouted as she pointed to the first picture, one of her taking a test. "Then you show it to the teacher, completed of course, and then they send it off in the mail!" She shouted as the next picture was of her showing her test to a teacher, and then mailing it off. "And then you wait for the mail man to give it to you, and you compute the tests!" Su shouted as Motoko sighed before moving her out of the way.

"I'm taking it from here Su." Motoko said as Su just nodded and jumped out of the way. "The score you get determines if you can apply for the Entrance Exams for a certain college. This Center Exam is the first step. The next step is the actual college Entrance Exam." Motoko said as she tried to clear up Su's version. "The examination department won't tell you your score. So the student looks at the newspaper's answer key and computes the score themselves." Motoko said as everyone nodded.

"In the case of Keitaro, his score will determine whether or not he's allowed to enroll or not." Motoko said as everyone looked forward… except for us.

"Even after you explained it, I'm still don't get it… though considering I'm not taking the Exam it doesn't matter." Kitsune said as she blushed lightly.

"A Japanese student's life is so hard." Shinobu said as she rubbed the back of her head lightly.

"Good luck everybody!" Shinobu said as the backdrop rolled back up, and the 'real' background reappeared. Sanosuke and I just sweat dropped as we looked at each other with estranged looks.

"Please, Kenshin-san… just kill me now… I don't know how much more of this I can handle…." Sanosuke said as I patted him on the shoulder.

"It's over now Sanosuke-san… you don't have to worry about the weird old background change anymore…" I said as Sanosuke simply shuddered as he sighed and everyone looked at us as if we were the weirdoes. Suddenly Naru came back (she must have disappeared during the background change) with a paper in her hand.

"I'm finished computing my score!" Naru said as we all looked at her with an expectant look.

"What's the result?" Kitsune asked as Naru simply smiled and gave us all a thumbs up.

"It's great, I scored 766 points." Naru said as Motoko, Su and Shinobu started clapping. Kitsune walked up to her and looked a the paper.

"766 points, is that good?" Kitsune asked as Naru nodded.

"Yeah, I shouldn't have any problems at all." She said as I nodded.

"That's good news Naru-san." I said as Sanosuke shrugged.

"Whatever, it's not like it was some kind of surprise for you to pass. The one we really got to look at is Keitaro." Sanosuke said as Naru sweat dropped.

"He hasn't come back yet?" Naru asked as suddenly we all began sweating.

"I haven't heard from him yet." Kitsune said as everyone became a little jumpy.

"I hope he's okay." Shinobu said as suddenly we all began thinking a bit deeply.

"500 points is the cut off mark… but by the way he looked…" Naru said as Su jumped up.

"He didn't do well on the Exam?" She asked as Kitsune began sweating a little more.

"If he failed for a third time… it would really be a pretty big deal to him." Kitsune said as Shinobu became slightly more worried.

"He couldn't…. could he?" Shinobu asked as suddenly Motoko got a seriously nervous look on her face.

"Now that you mention it, I noticed that he looked very nervous a minute ago." She said as suddenly Kitsune jumped.

"Don't tell me he locked himself in his room to commit suicide!!!" Kitsune shouted. Suddenly, all of us paled as we began imagining Keitaro hanging himself, and then a newspaper headline, the headline being about Keitaro hanging himself over his grade. We all began panicking… well all of us besides Sanosuke, who simply stood there, a bored look on his face. We all stared at him, and it took Kitsune clearing her throat to bring Sanosuke back into the real world.

"What?" He asked as we all sweat dropped before his eyes snapped open. "Oh! OH NO THIS IS SO TERRIBLE! AHHHHHHHH!" Sanosuke said in a mock panicked voice as we all sweat dropped again. Was he seriously joking about Keitaro possibly committing suicide? Sanosuke sighed as he looked at all of was with his head tilted to the side. "Come on, it's Keitaro we're talking about. Now I may have only known him for a little while… but that happy-go-lucky dork probably wouldn't commit suicide unless he had gone insane." Sanosuke said as we all sighed in relief…

Well we were relieved until we began hearing Keitaro cackle in his room. He kept on laughing for several seconds. We all looked at Sanosuke with raised eyebrows as he stared at the room with slightly widened eyes. "Well, get the undertaker…" He said as we all sweat dropped as suddenly Keitaro slammed open the sliding door, and practically jumped out.

"Hey guys! Listen to what I have to say!" Keitaro shouted as suddenly most of us jumped out of our skin. "I actually…" Keitaro said as suddenly the idea of the news headline appeared back into my mind. I began walking down the hall as everyone looked at me.

"I gotta go and practice!" I shouted as I heard everyone slowly begin to follow me.

Sano POV

Keitaro and I watched as everyone left the hallway in front of his room. I stayed behind… and why you might ask. Hell, I've seen people commit suicide before, they did it so that they wouldn't get killed by me. I watched as Keitaro looked around very confused, before he noticed me and looked at me with a small smile. "Hey Sanosuke-san, you wanna know what I scored!?" Keitaro asked with a large smile as I sighed before putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Sure Keitaro, and don't worry. If you need to cry on my shoulder I'll let you just his once…" I said as he sweat dropped and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What are you talking about, I got 600 points!" Keitaro said. my jaw dropped and my eyes went as wide as dinner plates. He passed…. this idiot passed! I can't believe it! It's a freaking miracle! He stared at me with a slightly worried look… before I put my arm around his neck and began giving him a well deserved noogie. "What the hell are you doing Sanosuke-san!?" Keitaro shouted as I continued.

"You little nerdy bastard! You passed!" I shouted as I began laughing out loud, and as he went slightly limp in my grip before suddenly he jumped up and began laughing along with me. We laughed for several seconds before he froze for a second and looked at me with an insulted look.

"Hey, what do you mean by 'little nerdy bastard'?" Keitaro asked me as I laughed before giving him another noogie.

"Ahh, don't worry about it." I said as he looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway, I'll be going now, see you later." I said as Keitaro once again tried to ask me why I called him 'little nerdy bastard' I simply sped up and lost him. I began looking around for the others, and only managed to find Kenshin. I smirked as I walked up to the little guy. "Yo, Kenshin, I have some good news." Sanosuke said as Kenshin nodded.

"As do I." He said as I shrugged, giving him permission to speak first. "Well, you see, the girls have set up a nice cheer up party for Keitaro in the hot springs." He said as I looked at him with widened eyes. "If you're wondering why I'm not there, they said they didn't want me seeing what hey were going to give to Keitaro, that they did." Kenshin said as I grabbed him by the shoulders and began shaking him.

"IDIOT!" I shouted as he looked at me with widened eyes. "KEITARO PASSED THE ING TEST! DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS IF THEY FIND OUT!?" I shouted as Kenshin's eyes went slightly dull as his jaw dropped.

"Oro…" He said as I waited for a second. Then in the next instant his eyes went as wide as dinner plates, and went ablaze with panic. "OH MY GOD SANOSUKE-SAN, THEY'LL KILL HIM!" Kenshin shouted as I nodded. "We have to stop the party!" He shouted as I nodded and we both began running for the hot springs. We both ran past the dressing room, and rushed into the springs, not even bothering to look around.

"DON'T DO IT, HE PASSED!" We both shouted as we froze. Right in front of us… were Motoko, Kitsune, Shinobu, and Su in bathing suits, Keitaro in boxers… and Naru standing right beside him. We stared with mouths agape as Motoko drew her sword, and Naru began cracking her knuckles.

"Oh no…" Kenshin muttered as Naru turned towards Keitaro…. and punched him, sending him flying across the dorm. Then suddenly Motoko launched a Shinmeiryuu attack at Kenshin, sending him flying after Keitaro. I began chuckling as I looked at all of them with a small smirk.

"Ha! You ran out of ammo!" I said as suddenly I heard another crack.

"Is that so?" I heard coming from Kitsune as I looked at her… as she cracked her knuckles with a killer expression on her face. "Take this!" She shouted as she socked me a good one, sending me flying after Keitaro and Kenshin. As I flew, I saw Keitaro and Kenshin laying on the ground. They panicked as they saw me flying towards them, and they tried to move… sadly they didn't move fast enough to get away from my landing point... I landed on them… knocking all of us out cold.

Three Nights Later

It was three nights later and I was walking through Hinata Sou. I had a strange urge for a bit of drinking… though the reason for it wasn't entirely unclear. You see, earlier today we found Keitaro had indeed passed the Center Exams for Tokyo U. Now then, this time we threw a party for succeeding (for both Naru and Keitaro). We did clear up the event three days ago… so now we're off the hook… for now.

Now, I was happy for Keitaro… but it just made me realize something. This kid has the potential to make something of himself… an opportunity that really never was sent my way. It made me feel… oh I don't know, bad… well worse than I normally do. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't planning suicide, hell no. I've gotten past that; I stopped thinking suicide a long time ago… after I met Sozo…

But, once again, I'm rambling. I'm going down for a drink; see if I can't help speed up the process of getting this feeling off my chest. I finally reached the kitchen… when I saw the resident fox girl, once again drinking… oh hell I could use someone to talk to. I walked past her and opened the fridge. As I did she looked up from her own drink and smirked at me. "Hey there stud, what are you doing at this time of night." She asked, a cheesy grin on her face.

I grabbed a bottle of Sake, popped off the cork keeping the alcoholic drink in the bottle, and walked over to a chair in front of her. I sighed as I took a drink before looking her straight in the eye… well closed eye, but that doesn't make much of a difference. "Well… I just need a good drink right about now Kitsune…" I said as I took a deep drink. "It's just that damn test Keitaro passed." I said as she raised an eyebrow.

"What, the Center Exam thing? Why would you be all upset about that stud?" She said as I sighed at the nickname she coined me with when I first came to this dorm as a guest. I took another drink before sighing.

"Tell me… have you even seen someone else succeed at something you knew that you'd never have a chance at… and just feel… well a bit jealous about it… because you knew that even if you wanted to try thanks to screw ups you made it would be impossible…" I said as I took another drink and she tilted her head to the side.

"No…" She said as suddenly her eyes widened. "Oh don't tell me you're going all goth on us and you're thinking about killing yourself!" She said as she grabbed her head. "Man, why do all the goths come out to me!?" She shouted as I chuckled, catching her attention.

"Oh don't worry about that… just feeling a bit sorry for myself is all…" I said as she gave a sigh of relief before continuing drinking. When I finished off a drink I set it on the table before sighing. "All my thoughts of suicide have been long passed…" I muttered as suddenly she did a spit take and looked me straight in the eye.

"You! Actually considered killing yourself!?" She shouted as I nodded before taking another drink. "Man, I was joking earlier about the entire goth thing, but you really considered killing yourself!?!?!" She shouted as I nodded once again before putting my drink on the table. "I mean, Naru told me about the entire being given away thing… but was it that bad." She said as I sighed.

"Well, to answer your question… yeah." I said as my mind began wondering… probably being affected slightly by the alcohol. "The foster family that took me in were rather inattentive when it came to me… never really wanting to have much of a part in my life… one of the reasons I dropped out of high school was because I knew they wouldn't care…" I said as I saw Kitsune was listening intently.

"I guess… I just felt so unwanted in the world… there wasn't a person who cared… I mean my own family sent me off just because another member was on their way… how ed up is that huh?" I said as she nodded. "In fact… I probably would have gone through with it… if a certain man didn't stop me…" I said as she raised an eyebrow. I looked at her with a slight smirk. "You wanna know his name." I asked as she shook her head no.

"Oh no, I wouldn't touch this with a twenty foot pole!" She said as I chuckled… she doubled the length of the pole from the last talk. I smirked at her as I took a drink.

"Good, because if I told you I would have to kill you." I said as she froze before I began chuckling. She also began laughing shortly afterwards. We both finished our drinks before I got up and extended my hand. "Thanks for listening to the rant there, Kitsune… I really needed it." I said as she shook my hand.

"Ahhh. Don't sweat it, just call me Dr. Konno!" She shouted as we both chuckled before heading up to our own rooms… I really did feel just a bit better.

February 4th

Kenshin POV

It has been quite a few weeks since the Center Exams, and things have been going rather well here at Hinata Sou. Naru and Keitaro have been studying, as always, while Sanosuke and myself have been training. The other tenants… well nothing exciting has really happened for a while now… to anyone. It's just been an average couple weeks. But hey, maybe that'll change today. Anyway, Keitaro, Naru, and I were sitting on top of the roof, just enjoying the sights.

"Twenty days until the Entrance Exam…" Naru muttered as Keitaro lightly chuckled..

"Argh… the Entrance Exam… I'm worried…" He said as I simply smiled at him.

"I don't think you have too much to worry about Keitaro-san." I said as he smiled at me. "I think you'll do fine, that you will." I said as he nodded before getting a far off look in his eyes. We all sat there for a few seconds, lost in our own thoughts. I was busy thinking about how drastically my life had changed over the past few months… the thoughts would have continued had Keitaro not begun sneezing.

He sneezed quite a few times, his face slowly turning a red hue around his cheeks. As he stopped, Naru and I picked him up and began carrying him to his room… it was on the other side of the dorm. "Getting sick this time of year Keitaro…. how unfortunate… and it seemed to come out of nowhere…" I said… and it was true, he was fine a moment ago. Keitaro merely sneezed in response as we got into the halls of Hinata Sou.

As we walked, we suddenly heard moaning, and not a good moaning either… the bad kind, the sick kind. All of a sudden, Sanosuke stumbled out of one of the halls, his face almost completely red. He was sweating bullets as he held his stomach and moaned. We stared at him as he looked at us with slightly glazed eyes. "I don't feel so cool." He said as he practically collapsed onto the ground.

Naru and I ran over to him, Naru bending down to get a feel for his temperature. As she felt his forehead she yelped as she pulled her hand back. "Jeez, he's burning up!" She shouted as she looked at me expectantly. I sighed as I began picking up Sanosuke and carrying him, while Naru did the same for Keitaro. We continued walking, and we were just outside of mine, Keitaro's, and Sanosuke's room before my knees started shaking and I began coughing like there was no tomorrow.

"You now what Naru-san… I'm not feeling all that great myself… I think I'm gonna… lay down…" I said as I collapsed onto the floor, my head feeling like it was going to explode, and Sanosuke landed right beside me. I was still awake… but I was just so tired. Naru stared at us, a sweat drop forming on the back of her head.

"This could be a problem…" Naru said as she began the process of trying to get the three of us into our room. It was several minutes later when she was able to drag Sanosuke into our room, and put him onto a futon. She sighed as she ran out of the room, and came back a few minutes later with a few thermometers. She stuck one under each of our tongues, and after a minute she began checking them.

"99.8 degrees F…" She said as she checked Keitaro's temperature. She then moved over to mine and pulled it out. "101 degrees F…" She said as she then moved over to Sanosuke. I could tell she was considering getting oven-mitts for this one, but she pulled it out, shook it, and then checked it.. before her eyes practically bugged out of her head. "104 degrees F!" She shouted as Sanosuke 'shrugged' under the cover of his futon.

"Is that all… that's not even close… to my record…" He panted as we all sweat dropped (but with me and Keitaro you really couldn't tell) as we looked at him.

"What is your record?" Naru asked as Sanosuke thought for a moment before looking at her.

"How hot does the human body have to get for you to get heat stroke?" He asked as we all sweat dropped. Naru stood up and began walking out, before turning around to face us.

"I'm going to get the ice bags, you guys just stay there…" She said as we all sighed/sneezed/coughed as she left. Only a second after she left Keitaro suddenly began crawling out of his futon, and towards his desk. I would have stopped him… had I actually felt good enough to care… I felt terrible… and that feeling was magnified when Su suddenly fell ran in, and jumped onto Keitaro's back.

"Helloooooo guys! Are you still alive?!" She yelled as we looked up at her and moaned, Keitaro moaning from the now tremendous pain in his back. Suddenly Motoko and Kitsune came in the room as well, looking at us with looks of pity.

"What are you all doing here?" I asked as Motoko sighed, Su giggled, and Kitsune smirked. Su suddenly cracked an egg over her head while holding a glass of what appeared to be beer in her hand.

"I'm here to help you guys!" She said as she dropped the yolk of the egg into the beer… and then got out another glass and another egg. "Warm beer and egg is good for when you're sick! I mean, that tea worked for Motoko-chan, right Rurouni-kun!" She shouted as I sweat dropped slightly as she got out another egg, and another glass of beer. Meanwhile Motoko pulled out a few cooked lizards and frogs.

"Like she said, you cured me of my cold… and since it appears you're in no condition to do anything of the sort again, I'm repaying you." She said as she began grinding up the lizards and frogs in a cup. "This is an old family recipe for illnesses, it should help." She said as Su held up the beers.

"It's ready." They both said (well Su shouted) as they approached us. Motoko and Su did Keitaro first, giving him the ground up lizard and frog while Su poured the 'Special Eggnog' down his throat. They then did the same with myself and Sanosuke. The result of Keitaro was almost instantaneous, as he his nose erupted in a fountain of blood… looked like the beer was a bit strong for the poor guy.

The results for Sanosuke and myself… were less than great. We didn't show much sign of improvement… if anything Sanosuke was getting worse, as he was actually shivering, even at 104 degrees F! Suddenly Kitsune sauntered over to Sanosuke with a smug grin on her face. "Ahhh... look at stud… get him sick and he falls to pieces." She said as she got a blush on her face and giggled… yep she was drunk… again.

Sanosuke groaned as his glazed eyes made there way over to Kitsune. "Bi-bi-bite me Kitsune…" He said as Kitsune giggled more as he moaned, and Motoko merely shrugged in a 'eh, she had it coming' way, while Su just ran around the room saying 'bite me' over and over again.

"Ahhh… don't worry stud I'll help you get better, after all, all you have to do is warm up the body and it'll recover." She said with a slight slur as she unbuttoned her shirt and began tucking herself in with Sanosuke. "Here, body warmth!" She said with a giggle as the red on Sanosuke's face increased a few folds, Motoko, myself, and Keitaro sighed, and Su just commented on how it 'looked fun'.

We heard a dish crash to the floor as we looked towards the door to see Shinobu standing there in utter shock. Having apparently misinterpreted what was going on she ran off, yelling that she was sorry she interrupted. A few moments later Naru busted in with Shinobu right beside her, sporting a look of irritation. "Hey, are you all done fooling around!?" She shouted as they all looked at her with slightly shocked looks.

Moments later, Naru had them all sitting in a straight line in front of us, their heads bowed down as the young woman lectured them. "Get it? If you keep messing with these guys, they're not going to get any better. They're seriously sick, and the only thing other than letting them relax, only Kenshin knows how to make, and look at him." She said as she pointed to me… I assumed I must have looked pretty terrible because the three of them paled.

"And he's not even the worse, look at Sanosuke, he looks like he's about to kick the bucket at any moment!" She shouted as we all looked at Sanosuke… and her description was rather accurate if you asked me. He looked absolutely terrible… and I could imagine that right about now Kitsune's hoping that she doesn't catch whatever he has. "Just let them rest, alright?" Naru asked as all three of them apologized.

Suddenly Su pulled out a book and walked up to Naru. "Can I read them a bed time story?" She asked as Naru just sighed and nodded. Su walked up to us and smiled. "I found a book about Keitaro!" She said to us as we all looked… to see the book about a 'Tarou' Urashima. Sanosuke was the first to respond as he sighed.

"That's…. someone else…" He said, his eyes slowly starting to roll into the back of his head as he closed his eyes. As Su read, the other girls began reading as well…. I think I'll take Sanosuke's lead and go to sleep as well… after all… I'm exhausted…

Dream

I slowly began waking up in the middle of a sakura tree forest. The blossoms fell as suddenly the wind blew, leading the blossoms down a particular path. I raised my eyebrows as I began walking slowly down the path. I didn't feel sick anymore, and I was in my normal attire with my sword hanging at my waist. Before I could question much more, I was suddenly at a beach, the sun out and shining. On the beach… I saw Keitaro, just getting out of his futon and looking around.

"Keitaro-san? What are you doing here?" I asked as he looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"I was about to ask you the same question…" He said as he kept on looking around. "I think we're in a dream…" He said as suddenly we heard something in the bushes.

"This couldn't be a dream." Sanosuke's voice said as he came out of the bushes, when he did I could see his Zanbato perched on his back. "If this were a dream of mine then there would be Sake… and beautiful women… and many other pleasures life has to offer…" He said as we sweat dropped before we heard crying. We looked around, and saw all little kid being pushed around by two kids close to his age. As we approached… we saw that it was Haitani and Shirai… and they were pushing a little Keitaro around.

We all stared for a moment before Keitaro came to his senses. "Why are you bullying him, you shouldn't do that!" Keitaro said as Shirai and Haitani looked at him.

"Because…" Haitani began saying before crossing his arms. "The idiot failed the entrance Exam twice and he still refuses to give up… and he's as slow as a turtle." He said as Keitaro vaulted into the ground, as little Shirai taunted little Keitaro with a trig question.

"Now, unless I am mistaken aren't the two of you still ronins just like Keitaro-san?" I asked as Haitani and Shirai flinched and Keitaro kicked both of them.

"Yeah so get out of here, and don't let me see you bullying him again!" Keitaro shouted as little Shirai and Haitani ran for the hills crying. Meanwhile Keitaro helped little Keitaro up and began brushing him up. "Don't worry the bad guys are gone." Keitaro said as his miniature self began smiling.

"Thanks mister." He said as he smiled at all of us. "And for helping me out, I'll take you to the Dragon Palace!" He said as he grabbed Keitaro by the wrist and began pulling him. As he dragged Keitaro off, Sanosuke and I looked at each other, shrugged, and began following them. We followed them towards the inside of what I now assume to be an island, and as he did… it began snowing.

"That's funny…" He said as we all looked at the snow. "It's not supposed to snow like this…" He said as we kept on walking… when suddenly a huddled up figure started to appear off in the distance. The figure had brown spiked hair that covered most of his face. The figure was a boy, about four feet tall, and about ten years old... and he looked oddly familiar. Sanosuke stopped when we got closer to the boy… and held us back.

"Wait here." He said as he began walking towards the boy. The boy looked up at Sanosuke with slightly watery eyes. Sanosuke looked down at the boy for several moments… before ruffling his hair and helping him off the ground. Sanosuke took off his jacket and gave it to the boy, who barely had any warm clothes on his at all. He even tore off a section of his own headband and tied it around the boy's head.

When he came back… we saw a miniature Sanosuke standing beside our Sanosuke. "Guys… meet me. Me, meet the guys." Sanosuke said as his smaller self looked at all of us. Little Keitaro walked up to him, looked at him for a little bit, and then extended his hand.

"Hi, my name's Keitaro, what's yours?" He asked as little Sanosuke slowly took his hand and shook it.

"My name's… Sanosuke Higashidani." Little Sanosuke said as Keitaro and I looked at Sanosuke with a slightly confused look as he sighed.

"So I changed my last name to Sagara. Does it really matter?" He asked as we shrugged.

"I guess not." Keitaro said as we all continued walking forward, the snow slowly starting to clear up once again, revealing the forest again. Though it was only a few minutes later when suddenly the entire area was taken in a thick fog. We all sighed as little Keitaro once again said how this kind of weather was really odd. Suddenly… off in the distance… another, smaller, figure appeared… running from something…

It was me… when I was younger…

Sano POV

We looked on to see a little spiked, red haired kid with a slash across his cheek that was still bleeding, running until he was forced up against a tree. He had big purple eyes, that shone with fear at the moment. He appeared to have been running from something… and that something appeared in the form of a pretty tall guy with a… oh my God… could that be… there's no mistaking it…

Its Enishi… one of the highest ranking thugs in the Yakuza, second only to the leader himself… the guy made my skin crawl. I had gone on a few hits with the guy myself… and despite how I killed people… the way he killed them scared me. He was so ruthless… so efficient in the way he killed… it just freaked me out in a way that nothing else really could. We watched as Enishi picked up the red haired kid by the shirt collar, and cut another mark onto the kid's cheek…

Making a cross mark… is this Kenshin? My question was swiftly answered when Kenshin, all of a sudden, rushed at Enishi, drawing his sword as he let loose a yell. I watched as he cut straight through Enishi, causing him to disappear. Kenshin took a few deep breathes as he looked at the child, and bent down to his level. Keitaro, his little self, myself, and my little self, watched in amazement as Kenshin helped his little self up, and began bringing him over here.

When they were close I saw that my guess was indeed correct. Standing in front of us was a little Kenshin, probably not even five years old… and despite what just happened… both of them were smiling lightly… yep they were Kenshin. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my little self." Kenshin said in such a normal tone that it surprised Keitaro and I to no end. However, our little selves weren't all that effected as they walked up to him.

"Hey, I'm Sanosuke! This is Keitaro, what's your name!" My little self asked as Kenshin's little self smiled.

"My name is Shinta!" He shouted with a big smile on his face. Keitaro looked at Kenshin with a raised eyebrow, but I really didn't care, after all I changed my own name. Suddenly little Keitaro began walking again, and we began following him again. As we walked, our little selves began talking to each other…

"Talk about communicating with your inner-child…" Kenshin said as both Keitaro and I sighed and shook our heads. Suddenly we heard the sound of giant footsteps behind us. We turned around to see Su, riding on top of a giant Ostrich.

"Heeey! You guys still alive!?" She shouted as we looked at her… and noticed that she had shrunk a considerable amount. But before any of us could think to ask her she got this huge smile on her face. "You guys are still sick right?!" She asked as suddenly the ostrich began laying eggs on top of us… and we dropped into a giant glass of beer. Su began stirring us, the eggs, and the beer as she giggled. "Eggnog is good for you!" She shouted as I surfaced.

"Guys, there's only one way to get out of this!" I shouted as they all shot up to the top.

"What!?" They, and their miniature selves, screamed as I pointed towards the eggnog.

"Drink! Drink like you've never done before!" I shouted as we all began taking huge gulps of the eggnog. We all drank until all of the eggnog was gone. Our little selves were very drunk at the moment, and all of ours stomachs were filled to the brim with eggnog… Keitaro even threw up a bit. Su then bent down in front of us and giggled.

"How was it…" She asked as I burped a little bit.

"Terrible." We all said as all of us began emptying out the contents of our stomachs. It was a few minutes later when we all felt well enough to continue. We continued following little Keitaro to this 'Dragon Castle' only now Su was following us on her giant ostrich. We walked for about fifteen minutes… before we heard these huge explosions behind us. We turned around to see a giant lizard, and a giant frog, with a little Motoko and baby Shinobu on its head.

"I heard you guys had a cold! Eat this lizard and frog, that should make you feel better!" Little Motoko said as suddenly the giant lizard crashed its jaws onto the spot Kenshin was standing, then swallowed him whole. It wasn't much longer after that the frog's tongue wrapped around me, and dragged me into it. I could hear all of them screaming about how we were getting eaten… LIKE HELL I'M GOING TO BE EATEN BY A FROG!

As I landed in the frog's stomach I drew my Zanbato and began cutting, I eventually cut through the frog's neck, and jumped out, earning 'ah's from the group of little people and Keitaro. Then suddenly there was a sword sticking out of the lizard's neck, and in the next instant Kenshin sent multiple cuts through the lizard's neck, causing its head to fall off, and allowing him to escape. As he did the kids began clapping and cheering, and Keitaro just stared in amazement.

"WOW! They're just like manga superheroes!" My little self shouted as all the other kids nodded in agreement. After a little while, and after Kenshin and I were able to get all of the guts and crap off of us, we all began walking again. Shinobu stayed perched on Motoko's shoulders. Motoko, however, stayed close to Shinta (little Kenshin), a light blush on her face. I sighed as we kept on walking.

"Hey, where are we going anyway?" Little Motoko asked as little Keitaro turned around.

"We're going to go see the Dragon Princess!" Little Keitaro said as Motoko raised an eyebrow.

"Princess?" Motoko asked as little Keitaro shook his head up and down.

"Yeah she's really cute too!" He shouted as suddenly we heard tiny footsteps.

"And here I am!" We heard from the side. We looked to see… a tiny Kitsune in a bunny girl outfit. I sighed as Keitaro face vaulted and Kitsune posed. "The princess is here!" She shouted as little Keitaro just walked on by her.

"She ain't the princess." He said as she gave him an indignant look.

"Respect your elders, kid!" She shouted as we all sweat dropped. We now continued walking, Kitsune following us now… except she was talking with my little self. We all kept walking, up a set of stairs, and… right up to Hinata Sou. We all stared as we noticed that little Keitaro was gone. We looked forward to see him in a sandbox with some girl… they were promising each other that they were going to Tokyo U. "Awwww. How cute!" Little Kitsune shouted as suddenly they noticed us.

The girl walked up to Keitaro, and gave him some chest with string holding it together. "Thank you misters, here's a magical chest, as a token of my gratitude." She said as I raised an eyebrow. This girl actually used gratitude… and in the right way. "Just don't open it, okay." She said as Keitaro nodded… and little Su just popped open the chest.

"What's in here?" She asked as suddenly a plume of smoke shot up out of the box and enveloped the entire area. I coughed up smoke as I noticed our little selves were gone… and so were the little girls. They were gone… and replaced with their normal selves. While Keitaro looked back towards the girl, Kenshin and I stared at the normal girls… before they began beating the crap out of us.

Real World

Kenshin POV

I slowly began waking up as I was being beaten to death in my dream. I opened my eyes to see a concerned Naru looking over the three of us. I sat up… and noticed that not only Keitaro was getting up, but so was Sanosuke. "Sanosuke-san, you alright?" I asked as he sighed before smirking.

"Like I said, that fever was nothing compared to my…" He said as he froze before looking at Naru. "Hey Naru, mind getting me something to drink, I'm dieing of thirst." He said as Naru nodded and left. When she did… he turned to us with an estranged look on his face. "Either of you two remember being in a dream with each other?" He asked as I nodded and Keitaro nodded lightly.

"Yeah… it was weird… what do you think it meant?" Keitaro asked as we both looked as Sanosuke, who was tapping his chin.

"I think it means we're going insane." He said as we both sweat dropped… and the girls barged into our room with a bunch of books, and began to 'assault' us with fairy tales, novels, and other stories.

R&R


	12. I Hate Valentine's Day!

Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper

Hey there, this is Arganaut with the latest chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper. Anywho, sorry this took me so long to update, I've been a little sick recently so I needed to rest a bit. I'm still a little sick, but I think I can force out another chapter of this story. All five of my faithful reviewers reviewed last chapter, but I'd like to see a lot more people reviewing... so review dammit! Plllllleeeeeaaaasssseeee?

ANOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright then people, as most of you should know, I have posted yet another story. Its a LH story, and its called Love Hina: Switch. Now then, due to the introduction of this story, I'll be lowering the amount of words per chapter in this story to at least 5,000. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but hell, I think I'm not that kind of author... besides... less words means more chances at cliff hangers... heheheehehehehehehe...

Anywho, onto the reviews:

unlovedepacifist- Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

Infinite Freedom- Hmmm... well, that'd be a little too... well, blunt if you ask me. And the fight idea... Hiko will fight people, but I haven't planned on making it Tsuruko.

Raenef the Elf- It could be something important... or it might not be... you'll have to wait and see.

charles ho- Man, you're just a fountain of creativity aren't you? Anyway, I'm keeping what I have planned mostly under the rug, and I won't tell you all any of the details till we get there... though your ideas are most appreciated.

paintball-gamer- Hey, the fact that you reviewed at all is good enough for me. So thanks for reviewing my story dude.

Anywho, that's all of the reviews for the last chapter, now let's move onto the next chapter of Love Hina: Kenshin the Keeper!!!

Chapter 12: I Hate Valentine's Day

Hinata Dorms

Kenshin POV

Well hello there, it has been quite a while now, hasn't it? Guess what, tomorrow is the fourteenth of February... and you know what that means... it's going to be Valentine's Day! You may ask 'what is the reason I am so excited about Valentine's Day?'...and you have a point. Before, with Hiko, I was home schooled, and I didn't get out much because of training... so you could say that I've never really celebrated a Valentines' Day with anyone besides myself... Hiko doesn't count since he's my father.

But now, I'm living here at Hinata Sou, with all of its tenants... and I can celebrate Valentine's Day with them. I'm going to have to buy quite a bit of chocolate for everyone... but I think it can be done. Well, anyway, time to get back on task. Naru, myself, and Keitaro were walking up the steps to the dorms. Naru and Keitaro were discussing the results of one of the tests they had just taken, while I, on the other hand, was picking up some supplies for the kitchen that we needed.

"Darn... didn't do so well on the exam..." Keitaro muttered, looking over his score as Naru shrugged a bit.

"With you, that kind of score is pretty good isn't it?" Naru asked as Keitaro sighed a bit and I nodded.

"Well he is improving, that he is." I said as the dorm manager looked at me with a look of thanks upon his face. Naru suddenly sighed as she looked upward slightly.

"Tomorrow's already February the fourteenth... we need to get to work..." Naru said as Keitaro suddenly froze up, a very dismal expression on his face. Naru looked at him, a look of slight concern on her face. "Something wrong?" She asked as Keitaro was about to say something before I sighed a sigh of content and looked at them both with a slight smile.

"Why, nothing should be wrong, after all, how could something be wrong when tomorrow's Valentine's Day?" I asked as both of them looked at me with a weird look, Naru muttering 'oh yeah, tomorrow is Valentine's Day' quickly as she stared at me.

"Why are you so happy Kenshin-san?" Keitaro asked as Naru nodded along with him, most likely curious as to the reason of my happiness.

"Well it's actually very simple Keitaro-san." I said as he kept on walking up the stairs. "Before, I always had to celebrate Valentine's Day on my own. I was home schooled so I never met any girl's at a public school, and most of my free time was taken up by training." I said still smiling slightly. "I couldn't celebrate it with Hiko-san... that would've been very odd." I said as they nodded, seemingly in agreement. "But now..." I said as I turned to face them.

"I can celebrate Valentine's day here, with everyone at Hinata Sou!" I said as my smile widened slightly. "So why should there be no reason for me to be excited?" I asked as both Naru and Keitaro nodded before we finally reached the top of the stairs, Kitsune waiting for us at the front door. After we entered, each of us went our separate ways. Naru went to her room, Keitaro went to the kitchen, the supplies I bought in tow, and I went to get back to doing what I was doing before I was sent off...

Helping Sanosuke fix the hole in the wall that was made a few days ago due to a little accident involving Sanosuke, Naru, and the hot springs... for which Naru has said that she was a bit sorry... and Sanosuke sort of accepted it. At any rate, the sounds of a hammer crashing into wood resounded through the halls as I grew closer to where I knew Sanosuke would be.

Sano POV

BAM... BAM... BAM... Ba "OOOOOWWWW! THIS MOTHER BEEPING SON OF A BITCH!" I shouted as I quickly shoved my thumb into my shirt and applied pressure, trying to cut off the flow of blood to it so that it would numb. Right now I was working on this damned hole in the wall that Naru and I made during a little… accident. Kenshin was supposed to be helping me... but the little bastard got off when they told him to go pick up some groceries.

I heard footsteps as I turned my head to see Kenshin, smiling at me slightly as he walked over. Anyone else and I would've assumed that smile was formed because of amusement to my pain... but this kid just smiled a lot... so I let him off the hook. He knelt down beside me, picked up a hammer, and a few nails, and began helping me again. After a while, the pain numbed and I was able to get back to work along with him.

"So, tomorrow's Valentine's Day, eh?" I asked him, trying to strike up a conversation so that this job wouldn't be so boring. Kenshin gave me an odd look, probably wondering why I'd try to start a conversation, before promptly giving me one of his smiles before turning back to his work.

"Yes, it is actually, and I can't wait to celebrate it with everyone here!" Kenshin said as I nodded slightly before continuing my hammering. "And don't worry Sanosuke-san, I'm not giving you anything tomorrow... that would be weird." Kenshin said as I raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Wait, why would you give anyone anything in the first place?" I asked as Kenshin blinked at me.

"Well, tomorrow's Valentine's Day... the day everyone exchanges Valentines to one and the other... right?" Kenshin asked as I nearly face-vaulted.

"KENSHIN, THAT'S WHAT WHITE DAY'S FOR!" I shouted as Kenshin looked at me with a confused look.

"Oro?" He said as I shook my head.

"Girl's give boy's chocolates on Valentine's Day, but boy's give girl's chocolates on White Day! Don't you know that?!" I shouted as Kenshin just blinked at me a few times.

"Wait... what's the point on making two different days for the same activity if you can just as easily do it on one day?" Kenshin asked as I was about to shout at him... till I realized I didn't have an answer either. I tried to think of one for a few moments... only to find that I couldn't think of one. I shrugged, and he shrugged, as we went back to work hammering the boards in. "Sometimes our holiday traditions can get confusing eh?" He asked as I nodded.

"Damn straight." I said as I continued doing this god awful, and dangerous (well, dangerous to my thumb at least) job. After a while, we finally finished nailing in all the boards. We sighed as we smiled at our handiwork. Kenshin looked up at me with a small grin as he stretched out a bit.

"So, should we get some food?" He asked as suddenly both of our stomachs began growling.

"Well... nobody's going to cook after dinner... so I don't see why we can't sneak a bit of food out of the fridge." I said, Kenshin and I both grinning as we began making our way to the kitchen. We made it all the way there, and we opened the door... to see Keitaro just staring into the little oven on the counter, doing absolutely nothing but staring. Kenshin and I just glanced at each other, giving each other a confused look, before I smirked a bit.

"Shhhh..." I said as I slowly began sneaking over to Keitaro's position. I could almost hear Kenshin chuckling into his fist as I sneaked closer and closer to the bookworm. I was right behind him, and I looked back to Kenshin with a devilish grin before turning around... "RRRRRAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR!" I roared as suddenly Keitaro squealed like a little girl as he jumped up into the roof... his head going all the way through the ceiling.

"Wow Sanosuke-san, you really scared him." Kenshin said, walking up beside me as I gave an amused chuckle.

"What did you expect? I'm Sanosuke Sagara, and this was way too easy for me." I said, my ego growing with each and every single word I said. After a moment, I pulled Keitaro down from the ceiling, and set him down on the floor. He shook himself a bit before glaring at me... he did so until there was a small beep moments later. Keitaro smiled as he put on some oven mitts... Kenshin and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Keitaro-san, what are you cooking?" Kenshin asked as I simply nodded my head... I was mildly interested in what the little nerd was cooking. Keitaro merely chuckled as he opened the door to the oven.

"Well... you see... Valentine's Day has never been a good day of the year for me..." Keitaro said as he sighed. "I've never gotten a Valentine... and every year my friends show off their Valentines... and rub them in my face." Keitaro said as we both nodded. All of a sudden, Keitaro pulls out this huge chocolate cake from the oven, a huge grin plastered on his face. He put it on the counter, and it seemed to glow... like some kind of holy object...

"HERE IT IS! Keitaro's special Valentine's chocolate cake '99! With over one-hundred different ingredients... and even almonds!" Keitaro shouted as he took a bit of the cake, and then tasted it. In the next moment he picked the cake up and held it above his head. "FABULOUS! Girl's can't make this kind of chocolate!" Keitaro shouted as tears of happiness seemed to stream out of his eyes. Keitaro chuckled lightly as he brought the cake down slightly.

"Because I never receive any chocolate... I make my own every year..." Keitaro said... Kenshin and myself stared at him as if he were a mad-man. "MY SKILLS CAN EASILY MATCH ANY REAL CHEFS! Let's see who can laugh at me this time!" Keitaro shouted as he busted out of the kitchen, and began running down the halls, laughing hysterically as he did. Kenshin and I stared at the door in which Keitaro left... both of us with widened eyes.

I merely sighed as I shook my head. "Idiot..." I muttered as I looked at Kenshin, hoping that he wouldn't try to defend Keitaro... I mean, how could you defend that?

"I think Keitaro-san may have just gone a little insane..." Kenshin said as I looked at him with slightly widened eyes. Kenshin usually never said anything bad about anyone... he must've thought that Keitaro was seriously screwed up to have said that. But, Keitaro's sanity was not what we originally came in here to check up on... "Besides... if he's going to give himself chocolate shouldn't he give it to himself on White Day?" Kenshin asked as I sweat dropped.

"I mean.. if he's a boy and boy's are supposed to give chocolate out on White Day then he should give it to himself then... but then that would make it look like a boy gave it to him and that would be awkward so to make it look like a girl gave it to him he would give it to himself on Valentine's Day... but since he's a boy and he's giving it to himself he should... oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro, oro..." I sighed, then I slapped Kenshin across the face, knocking him back to his senses.

"Let's just get some food and get out before that crazed idiot comes back." I said as Kenshin nodded solemnly. We got to the fridge and began raiding it, taking just about everything we could carry. We reluctantly walked back to Keitaro's room... the reason I saw reluctantly is because we really didn't want to be around the lunatic. Fortunately for us, when we got to the room he wasn't there, most likely studying with Naru.

We quickly at the food that we brought up with us before laying down in our futons, feeling slightly exhausted from the day's labor. We fell asleep before Keitaro came back... and I was definitely thankful... that boy's one fry short of a happy meal.

Valentine's Day - Night

Kenshin POV

Well, today's finally the day... Valentine's Day! When I woke up this morning, it was the first thing on my mind. I got up and got dressed as I began doing my chores, waiting for the Valentine's to be given to me... though I was sent to the store by the girl's before they could give me any chocolate... apparently they found out about me and Sanosuke raiding the fridge... and since Sanosuke was already out I had to go get groceries.

It was late when I got back, problems at the tram station delaying my trip. As I approached the steps to the dorms I saw Sanosuke and Keitaro approaching as well. I smiled as I ran up to them, the groceries I had in a bag. "Hello there Keitaro-san, Sanosuke-san, how are you two?" I asked, noticing Sanosuke carrying a few wooden boards, and Keitaro carrying his cake in a box.

"Well, this little thing here got me out of another Valentine's Day of being made fun of." Keitaro said, pride obviously lacing his voice. Sanosuke merely let loose an annoyed sigh as he looked at me.

"And I was just making sure that we have some wooden boards for the next time one of us gets blown through one of the walls." Sanosuke said as we all managed to climb up all the stairs. We began walking into the door, and both Sanosuke and I noticed Shinobu hiding behind a wall. As she was about to exit...

"HIYAS!" Su shouted as she jumped forward. All three of us had our mouths hanging open as suddenly she jammed a piece of chocolate into each of our mouths. I personally chocked the chocolate down, the spicy flavor making it difficult. It was Keitaro who voiced our confusion.

"Why is this chocolate so hot!?!?" He shouted as we nodded... and suddenly he froze, a slightly dumbfounded look on his face as he muttered 'My first Valentine's Day chocolate...'. Su merely giggled.

"It was my curry flavored Valentine's Day chocolate!" She shouted as I smiled, Keitaro continued giving a slightly stupefied look, and Sanosuke just shrugged.

"Well Su-chan, thank you and I'll see you on White Day." I said as the foreign girl gave me an off look.

"What's White Day?" She asked as Keitaro and Sanosuke face vaulted. I kept a smile on my face as I scratched the back of my head.

"Well Su-chan, apparently in Japan, one Valentine's Day isn't enough, so they split it up so that on Valentine's Day girl's would give boys chocolates. On White Day boy's would give girl's chocolates, understand?" I asked as she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not do it on the same day?" She asked as I shrugged.

"That's what I wondered too..." I said as she giggled and ran off. I was about to walk off myself till Motoko approached me.

"Kenshin-san." She said strongly, a blush on her face. "Since you are the Grounds keeper here... and I'm a tenant... and, though I don't really celebrate too many modern holidays... it is your first year here so... here you go." Motoko said as she pulled out a bag of instant chocolate mix. I smiled as I took the bag, and bowed my head slightly.

"Thank you Motoko-san, it is nice to know that you were thinking of me." I said as she merely grunted, her blush deepening slightly. "And I promise to get you something on White Day." I said as I bowed slightly. "Happy Valentine's Day Motoko-san." I said as I rose up, only to find that her blush had increased slightly. She muttered a quick 'Happy Valentine's Day' before walking off... well, walking into a wall, and then walking off.

I smiled as I turned towards the corridor... to find Shinobu standing in front of me. "Ah, Shinobu-chan, are you having a good day?" I asked as she blushed and nodded... and it was only then I noticed the small box in her hand. "Shinobu-chan, what do you have there?" I asked as her blush deepened before pushing the box into my hands before running off.

I, and I assumed, everyone blinked as I opened the box. I smiled slightly as I saw a piece of Valentine's Chocolate in the shape of my sword with the kanji for my name on the blade. "Thank you Shinobu-chan!" I shouted, thinking that she would hear me. Suddenly Naru popped her head out. "Ah, Naru-san." I said as nodded my head at her before walking off.

Sano POV

I stared at Kenshin as he walked off, a little creeped out by what just happened. I had never seen so much Valentine giving in any five minutes of my entire life. Sighing, I began walking towards the kitchen... I wanted something to drink. Before I could get there, Kitsune suddenly popped out of one of the corridors, a small smile, not a smirk, on her face. "Well hello there stud." She said as I sighed.

"Happy Valentine's Day." I said as I half expected her to begin smirking... when she didn't, I looked down to see a small box behind her back.

"Speaking of which…" She said as she reached behind her and brought out the small box of chocolates. I looked at the box of chocolates, and then her, with eyebrows raised. "You should be grateful; normally I only get ten yen chocolates for the other guys." Kitsune said as I took the box of chocolate, only one eyebrow raised.

"Kitsune-san... thanks, I'll be sure to get you something on White Day." I said as suddenly her smile turned into a smirk.

"Oh, you don't have to." She said, her voice filled with something that made me suspicious. "Instead, how about you go out and buy a few bottles of Sake and bring it to the kitchen later so we can have one of our nightly drinking sessions!" Kitsune said with a wide smirk as I shook my head.

"Fair enough," I said as she kept on smirking at me while running off to the kitchen, muttering a small tune about Sake. I sighed as I shook my head, I should've remembered, when Kitsune gives something to you, you'd better be ready to be buying her drinks.

Later That Night - Kitchen

I stepped through the kitchen door, carrying a couple of bags with Sake in them. I had bought about eight bottles of the stuff, having seen Kitsune's rather impressive ability to put the stuff down when she really wanted to. Speaking of Kitsune, she was sitting in her usual seat at the table, looking at me with a huge smirk. "So you didn't bail out on me stud." She said as I merely laughed lightly before sitting down in the chair across from her.

"Like I'd ever bail out of drinking," I said as I picked out two bottles of the good stuff, handing one to Kitsune and the other to myself. We popped off the corks on the top and just gave a pretty tired look to each other.

"To Valentine's Day," We both said as we clanged the bottles together and began drinking the stuff. After taking my first drink I raised the bottle up.

"And to Saint Valentine... who must've been the Patron Saint of nasty tasting chocolates, overpriced cards, and people jumping all over you for a date." I said as she laughed a bit and clanged her bottle with mine as we took another drink of the Sake. As she set her bottle down she sent a grin my way.

"Didn't know you didn't like Valentine's Day, stud." She said as she took a drink. I scoffed slightly as I drank more of the alcoholic liquid.

"It's not that I don't like it, but it wasn't all that great around my neighborhood." I said as I shrugged. "When I was a kid the girl's were still in their 'boy's are so gross' stage... and in my other neighborhood when I was a teenager, the girl's were in their 'boy's are so rape-able' stage." I said as Kitsune nearly spat out the Sake she was drinking as she began laughing like crazy.

"Hahahahaaha... my ribs..." She said as she slowly but surely got herself under control. "So you're telling me that..." The fox-girl began as she began giggling to much for her to stop.

"Yep, the girl's there were as perverted as Motoko and Naru seem to think most men are." I said as she nodded. "I mean, get this, they were so... 'easy' that one day I was actually able to get this close to them." I said as I leaned over the table so that my face was barely six inches away from Kitsune, making her flinch a bit. "Put on a cheesy grin." I said as I put on that exact same cheesy grin. "And said..." As I tried to force the sexiest looking expression I could onto my face.

"Do I make you horny baby?" I said as Kitsune blushed a bit as she stared wide-eyed at me... maybe she couldn't hold her Sake as well as I thought she could if she was already getting a blush from the alcohol. I scooted back and sighed as she seemed to relax a bit. "And I swear to you she would've done the horizontal monster mash if I had asked her to..." I said as I leaned back, took a drink, and sighed. "But, I never dated one of them... but I kept messing with their heads." I said as we both began laughing, Kitsune a little less than she would normally, as we took another drink.

"I know exactly how you feel." She said as she reached for another Sake bottle. "You see, I was an early and pretty big bloomer." The fox said as she smirked. "So the guys were pretty much my slaves." Kitsune said as we both chuckled. "And I would always get tons of chocolate on Valentine's Day... I could get even more depending on how I dressed or what I did during the day." She said as I raised an eyebrow.

"For example, if I felt like getting a lot more of those sweets than normal... all I'd have to do is, well you know, hike up my skirt, wink a lot, not wear a bra, you know, those kind of things." She said as I nodded.

"Yeah, I get it; it's not all that different from my own tricks." I said as she looked at me. "You know, wear muscle shirts, or no shirt at all, tight pants, the whole deal." I said as we both began laughing.

"I'm not sure if we were born unlucky or lucky there, stud. On one hand we get more attention than anyone else in this world because of our bods." She said as I nodded.

"But at the same time we get the kind of attention we don't really want." I said as I leaned back in my chair. "Yep, these bodies aren't smart bombs. We may hit the target we want..." I began as she smirked and leaned back.

"But we're also going to hit everyone else in the vicinity." Kitsune said as we both began laughing, as I reached for my third bottle and she reached for her fourth. "You know stud, you make a way better drinkin' buddy than the otherssssshhh..." She said, slightly starting to slur her words. "... I mean you CAN drink sshho you're already be-better than the rest of 'em!" She said as she began laughing loudly and I chuckled.

"Well Kitsune, you may not be the first drinking buddy I've had." I said, little slur in my voice thanks to years of drinking, plus the fact I was bigger. "But you're definitely the most amusing." I said as we both laughed again. We both took another drink, finishing the bottles of Sake we had been drinking. We both reached out for the last bottle, and both our hands touched the other as we reached for it.

I looked calmly at Kitsune, her alcohol blush deepening for whatever reason as I pulled my hand back. "You can have it, don't feel like drinking too much tonight." I said as I smirked. "Besides, one of us has to be partially sober so we can find the rooms." I said as I chuckled a bit and she just smiled a bit, taking another drink.

"Thankshh, shtud." She said as she finished off the last of the Sake. "But I don't think I'll be needing any help to get up sshhome shtairs." She said in a slur as she tried to stand up out of the chair, only to fall down onto the ground. "Ow... I don't normally fall after a few bottleshh of Shhake... the shtuff you got musht've been pretty shtrong..." She said, her head spinning in a slight circle. I sighed as I stood up and walked over to her.

"Looks like I'm going to be the designated walker this evening." I said as I bent down. "Alright then, and up you go." I said as I hoisted Kitsune to her feet, helping stabilize the fox girl by putting her arm over my shoulders while I placed one of mine around hers. "Alright, you ready?" I asked as she merely nodded her head. We began walking at a pretty slow rate, myself trying to keep the drunk woman next to me from falling.

It took several minutes of walking, helping stand back up, and even waking up, but we finally reached Kitsune's room. I opened the door for her, only to find Kitsune not moving. "Hey, Shtud... I think I may need shome help getting into the futon thingy..." She said, her eyes only half-way open. I nodded as I helped Kitsune over to the small bed. She turned to me and gave me a drunken smile. "Thanksh shtud... couldn't have gotten here without ya..." She said as I merely shook my head.

"Well, what was I going to do, leave a drunken damsel in distress?" I said with a chuckle as she slapped my shoulder.

"Hey... I'm not as think as you drunk I am... oh... hahahaha..." She said as we both began laughing a bit. When her giggles died down she slowly got off of me, and began guiding herself to the futon. Before lying down, she turned to me and smiled. "Goodnight shtud..." She said as I nodded and left while she began getting into the futon. I exited the room and shrugged my shoulders. "Well, looks like this Valentine's Day was a bit better than the others." I said as I began making the short trek to my own room.

R&R


	13. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey guys, me Arganaut here, and you're probably wondering where the hell I've been. I'll be completely honest with ya, I've been around the block for a while writing some other stories, and dealing with getting ready for college, so that's taken a lot of my time. Another facet as to why I've been gone is with this story itself.

I started a Kenshin the Keeper for purely amateurish reasons. Instead of coming up with a solid plot where I had some idea of what was going to happen, I just threw my hands up into the air and said 'Hey! Kenshin in Love Hina sounds awesome, how about I toss him and some other characters from the series into this alternate universe to see what happens.' Needless to say, looking back at the story, there's a lot of things I did wrong, a lot of things I rushed, and just a lot of things I never really thought through long enough to come up with any resemblance of a story that had a plot that wasn't made up right on the spot.

So I'm here to tell you the truth of my intentions for this story: I'm closing it for now. That's my final decision. I'll leave it up on the site for people to see, but I can't work with it in its current form. I'll probably re-make it one day, but I don't quite see that day on the horizon, as I have to work out a good plot that would make the story a bit more interesting. I'm sorry it had to happen, I take full responsibility. I appreciate all of you who had reviews with such positive remarks, my only wish is that I had not ended up failing you so egregiously. I do have a different Love Hina story in the works that I actually have plans for, so I'd like it if you all would stop by there and check it out.

Till the next time we meet, adieu, adieu, to you, and you, and you: goodbye.


End file.
